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A student was shot at in Damak, Jhapa on Friday.

Anika Gajmer (Nisha) of Udayapur and currently residing at a rented room in Damak was shot at this morning at around 11.

She was shot at near Jastha Nagarik Pratisthan at Damak-5 while she was returning home after attending the Grade 12 exam at Damak-based Himali Higher Secondary School.

She received a bullet in her stomach.

Gajmer is being treated at ICU.

SP Milan KC of the District Police Office, Jhapa said that a police team has already reached the site to investigate the incident.

Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Thursday.

The country sees a spate of wildfires annually, usually beginning in March, but their number and intensity has worsened in recent years, with climate change leading to drier winters. Emergency crews worked through the night to fight the blaze which engulfed a forested area in Lalitpur, on the southern periphery of the Kathmandu valley.

More than 4,500 wildfires have been reported this year across the country, nearly double compared to last year according to government data but less than the worst fire season on record in 2021. "Wildfires have increased in an unimaginable ratio, and the season is expected to last for a month more," Sundar Prasad Sharma of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority told AFP.

"It is challenging to put out fires because of our difficult terrain," he added. Environment ministry spokesman Badri Raj Dhungana said the increase in the number of wildfires this year was because of a lengthy drought and heatwave conditions in southern plains.

"Generally, wildfires peak late April but this year they are still increasing because of rising temperatures," he said. Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. Large swathes of South and Southeast Asia have sweltered through a heatwave since last month, with the El Nino phenomenon also driving this year's exceptionally warm weather.

Temperatures have risen above 40 degrees Celsius in the Buddhist pilgrimage city of Lumbini and other parts of the south, with more hot weather forecast in the days ahead. More than a hundred schools in the southern city of Butwal were closed on Thursday for two days out of fears the heatwave would impact the health of students. 

AFP 

The price of gold has increased by Rs 2, 000 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 136, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 134, 500 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 135, 850 per tola. It was traded at Rs 133, 850 per tola.

Meanwhile, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,645 per tola today.

The Supreme Court Administration has raised a contempt of court proceedings against the news portal, sidhakura.com, and its YouTube channel.

The court administration has sought legal action against the publisher sidhakura.com, Yuvaraj Kandel, for publishing a fake news report, accusing a sitting Supreme Court justice, various senior advocates, and the publishers of two prominent media houses, among others, of trying to dismiss more than 400 corruption cases. 

The case of contempt will be presented on Monday, said Govind Prasad Ghimire, deputy registrar of the Supreme Court.

Kandel’s news portal has accused Supreme Court Justice Anand Mohan Bhattarai, Chairman of the Annapurna Media Network Rameshwar Thapa, Managing Director of the Kantipur Media Group Kailash Sirohiya, special correspondent of Annapurna Post Surendra Kafle, and senior advocates Hari Upreti and Kishor Vishwakarma, of being part of a clandestine meeting to influence the verdict of more than 400 corruption cases. 

The matter has sparked intense opposition from the media fraternity and judicial community.

 The apex court has sought action against everyone involved in the publication of the content, including Kandel and executive editor Navin Dhungana.

Taking into account the impact on the dignity and prestige of the judiciary, and considering the seriousness of the matter, a full-court meeting of all justices of the Supreme Court was held on Sunday. The case was filed based on the decision of the meeting.

The fake news, which has tarnished the reputation of the senior justice, legal professionals, communication professionals, and journalists, has been criticized by the Nepal Media Society, Nepal Bar Association, and Supreme Bar Association, among others.

On Friday, the Press Council of Nepal had issued strict directives to sidhakura.com to remove misleading content, citing serious violations of the code of conduct and extreme misuse of press freedom. The news portal has not only refused to take down the content, but has defended its position with a special editorial and the interview of the person who carried out the so-called sting operation. 

The press regulatory body on Sunday renewed its directive to remove the misleading contents. It has also summoned the editor and presenter of the program to its office at 3 pm Monday to furnish clarification and justify their claims with proper evidence. 

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Malaysia-based National Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed bilateral agreements aimed at exploring trade and investment promotion.

The signing ceremony took place after the opening session of the Third Investment Summit today.

The FNCCI President, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, and the President of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM), Tan Sri Dato’ Soh Thian Lai, signed the documents on behalf of their respective sides.

Similarly, two business entities from Nepal and India have entered into a cooperation agreement for the establishment and operation of a data center.

BLC Group Nepal and Yotta Data Services Private Limited of India have reached an agreement in this regard.

The Managing Director of BLC Group, Megha Chaudhary, and Yotta's Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Gupta, affixed their signatures to the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Press Council Nepal has directed sidhakura.com to remove a fake news published on April 26, 2024, claiming that the leadership of Annapurna Media Network and Kantipur Publications were part of a meeting involving sitting and former Supreme Court justices and senior lawyers to dismiss more than 400 corruption cases. The news portal has named Capt. Rameshwar Thapa, chairman of Annapurna Media Network (AMN), and Kailash Sirohiya, chairman of Kantipur Publications, as key members of the so-called high profile secret meeting.

The Press Council has instructed the news portal to take down the news and furnish clarification for publishing such malicious and fabricated content. The made-up report advertised to readers as ‘exclusive’ is aimed at damaging the reputation of the Supreme Court as well as the media houses, the press body said in a statement. It is in serious violation of Journalistic Code of Conduct, it added. The fabricated news has seriously undermined the constitutional court and has made serious allegations against justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai.

Earlier, on the same day, Thapa filed a case at Press Council Nepal. AMN Chairman Thapa said the so-called news was published with an ill intention to assassinate his character and to defame the media institutions associated with him.

“These are baseless and misleading rumours to manipulate the people and to serve some interest groups," he said. "The questionable content published under the garb of ‘exclusive sting operation’ was created with extreme prejudice and filled with illusionary characters. It was a desperate act to go viral.” 

Thapa further said that sidhakura.com  has crossed the ethical and moral boundaries of journalism by trying to discredit the media institutions that have always stood for democracy. It has also besmirched the sanctity of the Supreme Court, he added, demanding legal action against the news portal. AMN management has said that it is consultation with lawyers to seek legal remedies for the reputational damage through fabricated news.

Annapurna and Kantipur news outlets have been reporting news on Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in the misappropriation of funds from a financial cooperative.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai said that he was surprised and shocked to see his name in the news published by sidhakura.

He said that his 43 years of judiciary journey is like an open book.

“The verdict of the case has already proved that I was not involved in the case,” reads a statement issued by Justice Bhattarai on Friday.

“I would also like to make it clear that when the  constitutional bench had issued the verdict on the case, I was not the member of the constitutional bench,” he said.

It is baseless that I had met someone or attended any meeting in the aforementioned issue.

I strongly condemned the news published with an ill intention to spread rumours and manipulate the people.

The then Deputy Director at the National Information Technology Center Sunil Paudel has been found guilty in the National Payment Gateway case.

A joint bench of Special Court Chairman Tek Narayan Kunwar and member Murari Bahadur Shrestha, however, has given cleanchit to eight others.

The sentence against him will be determined on May 7.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had filed a graft case of Rs 230 million at the Special Court for irregularities in the National Payment Gateway.

The anti-graft watchdog had filed the case against Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Madhu Kumar Marasini, the then Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology and National Information Technology Center Chairman Sanjay Sharma, the then Executive Director of the National Information Technology Center Pranita Upadhyay, Managing Director of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority Sunil Paudel, the then Director at the National Information Technology Center  Safal Shrestha, the then Assistant Director at the National Information Technology Center Ramesh Pokharel, the then Account Officer at the National Information Technology Center Ram Bahadur Buda and Computer Engineer at the National Information Technology Center Ram Sharan Gayak. 

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Singha Durbar on Thursday.

Oli had reached Singha Durbar to discuss the problems seen in the coalition in recent days.

There was a dispute in the coalition regarding the appointment of the chief minister in the Sudurpaschim Province.

Leaders have said that the dispute  started following a meeting between the CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba.

According to a source, they discussed the problems seen in the provinces and the issues of government operation.