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Chairman of CPN (Unified Socialist) and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has urged one and all to pay special attention for the preservation of unique festivals and cultures of different communities in the country. In a message of best wishes on the occasion of Gyalpo Lhosar today, the former PM has said that festivals and cultures traditionally marked by different communities have culturally enriched our country. Chairman Nepal further stated that such festivals should be promoted since they unite ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse Nepali society. Wishing to all Nepalis at home and abroad on the occasion of Gyalpo Lhosar, Chairman Nepal has said that development and prosperity obtained from all’s common efforts would contribute in nation building.  

A 60-year-old man died after being attacked by a rhino in Ratnanagar Municipality-9, Chitwan on Tuesday. Information Officer at the Chitwan National Park Ganesh Prasad Tiwari said that the deceased has been identified as Chandra Bahadur Tamang. The rhino attacked Tamang near Lalparsa area of Ratnanagar at around 6 this morning. So far, five persons lost their lives in wild animals’ attacks in the current fiscal year in Chitwan district.

The Gyalpo Lhosar, the cultural festival of the Sherpa community, that falls on the Shukla Pratipada in the Nepali month of Falgun is being marked today by organizing different programs. The festival is observed as the New Year by the Sherpa community who primarily reside in the mountainous region of Nepal. But the festival is marked in 22 districts in the country. The festival is celebrated with gaiety and much fun from the Shukla Pratipada to Purnima. This festival is also celebrated by Mahayan Buddhists as their New Year. This festival has been observed since the time of the ninth king of Bhot Uday Gungyal. The festival is also termed as Gyalbo Lhosar, according to researcher Tika Sherpa. On this occasion, people of the Sherpa community clean up their houses and villages, sources of water and flutter new prayer flags on the roof of their houses. They cook delicacies such as Guthuk and Khapse and exchange best wishes with each other to welcome the New Year. The Gurung community marks its New Year on Paush 15 as the Tamu Lhosar while the Tamang community observes it as Sonam Lhosar on the day of Magh Shukla Pratipada.

Orange production has increased by around 25 percent in the current fiscal as compared to previous year in Parbat district. According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Parbat, both–area for orange farming and production have increased in the district this year. The district produced 5,000 metric tonnes of orange from 830 hectares of land this year. Of it, 4,250 metric tons of orange was exported. Senior Agriculture Development Officer, Manita Thapa, said the district made Rs 297 million income from it. A total of 4,000 metric tonnes of orange was produced from 450 hectares of land in the district last fiscal-year. Orange produced in the district is sold in Pokhara, Kathmandu, Butwal and Pokhara. Thapa added favourable weather is one of the reasons behind the increasing of orange production this year.

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli reiterated that the candidate fielded by the UML would be the next President. Talking to mediapersons at the Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, the former Prime Minister expressed the hope that there would be a consensus to make the presidential candidate fielded by the UML victorious. Stating that the UML would make public the party's presidential candidate on the day of the nomination registration, he said, "The present alliance will continue as it was formed in understanding and with much thought." He said that they also have the support of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to make UML's presidential candidate victorious. In another context, he said there was no need to be worried about the republic. On former King Gyanendra Shah's statement that he was ready to cooperate with political parties, he said, "Former King Gyanendra Shah is in dilemma."  

Pokhara International Airport will be equipped with the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) system in a week. Preparations for the operation of the IFR system at the newly opened international airport in Pokhara have been completed, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niraula said that the implementation of IFR in Pokhara international airport will come into effect from coming February 23. As a result, many airline companies have shown interest in carrying out regular international flights to and from Pokhara. The Korean Air, Biz Air, Himalaya and the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation and others have shown interest to start their services to the airport. The IFR system is a fully mechanical operating system and compared to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) it is relatively safe and comfortable despite taking more time, the CAAN has said. The airport came into operation from January 1, 2023 with only domestic services currently being provided by Buddha, Yeti, Shree, Sourya, Guna and other domestic airlines.

The Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) is holding its executive committee today to discuss contemporary politics issues including the elections of the President, Vice- President, the parliament session and unification with different parties. JSP spokesperson Manish Suman said that the meeting was called today to discuss the role of the party in the presidential and vice presidential elections, which are going to be held on March 9 and 17 respectively. The meeting is scheduled to start at 11:00 am at the party office at Balkumari. The party will also be discussing with other small parties CPN (Unified Socialist) Party for party unification.  

An agreement has been reached between Nepal and India to increase the power import and export capacity from existing 600 to 800 MW through the first international Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV transmission line. This was agreed at the meeting of the Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee held in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India on Saturday. Various other important agreements on international power trade including expanding the power of existing, under-construction and proposed transmission lines were reached during the meeting. Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Madhu Prasad Bhetwal, who participated in the meeting, shared that an agreement was reached to increase the capacity of import-export electricity through Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV transmission line by 200 MW. Similarly, an agreement has been reached between the two sides to import and export 70 to 80 megawatts of electricity from Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132 KV power transmission. A joint technical team will study possible options for exporting up to 200 megawatts of electricity as well. "India has responded positively to Nepal's proposal to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to export electricity generated from various hydropower projects in Nepal to the Indian market, also including a specific proposal to export 50 megawatts of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh," said Joint Secretary Bhetwal. It has also been agreed to set up necessary mechanisms to export power from Nepal to the Indian state of Bihar during the rainy season through the existing 132 KV transmission line. Both the parties agreed on the early completion of the construction work of the Indian section of the 400 KV new Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line as the second international transmission line by March 2025. According to Joint Secretary Bhetwal, it has also been agreed to build two more 400 KV capacity international transmission lines between Nepal and India, including Inaruwa-Poornia transmission line by 2027/28 and New Lamki-Bareli transmission line by 2028/29.