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Representatives of the stakeholder agencies under the local level have underscored the urgent need of conservation of the threatened bird Bagale Bagedi, the yellow-breasted bunting. It has been reclassified as critically endangered on the red list of threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This was highlighted by ornithologists in a seminar on conservation of Bagale Bagedi organized by Pokhara Bird Society. On the occasion, Anisha Rana, a researcher on Bagale Bagedi, said that this species of buntings migrate to Nepal from the Siberian region to escape the harsh winter cold and its population is nominal at the global and national level. She shared that the yellow-breasted bunting s start arriving Nepal from Siberia towards mid-November and stay here in Nepal for about six months before returning back to Siberia. These birds inhabit the wetlands near the lakes in Pokhara. Rana cited a survey report that showed the presence of 230 of this species of bird in Phewa Lake, 12 in Gunde Lake and 13 in Khaste Lake. This bird was not seen in the six remaining lakes in Pokhara. “This bird’s habitat is in the wetland, farmland and grassland. The bunting is similar to the size of sparrow and it is an attractive bird. Its average weight is 22 grams and is 14 centimetres to 16 centimetres long. It lives for seven years on an average,” informed another researcher Amrit Poudel. It migrates to Nepal from Russia, Mongolia and China during the winter. Its decline has become extreme in the past decade, likely driven by excessive trapping at migration and wintering sites, according to the IUCN. This bird is highly endangered globally as people kill it for its meat. A working paper on the yellow-breasted buntings shared in the seminar states that 886 species of birds are recorded in Nepal while there are 11 thousand 225 species of birds in the world. The Spiny Babbler is only found in Nepal. The protected bird species of Nepal are the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), the Sarus Crane (Grus antigone), the Cheer Pheasant (Catreus wallichii), the Himalayan Monal/Impeyan Pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus), the Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan satyra), the Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) and the Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus). Sixty-two species of birds arrive in Nepal during the summer while 152 species of birds migrate to Nepal during winter to escape cold. Similarly, it is said that 50 species of birds arrive in Nepal on the way of migrating while 79 species are seen as wanderers.

The Central Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee of the Election Commission has directed the district-based election code monitoring bodies to curb aberrant activities or organization of feasts and parties or disturbing the peace by any election candidate and political parties likely to harm the election environment. A meeting of the Committee held on Sunday directed the district code monitoring committees to also keep a tab on activities such as making threat, coercion and enticement to anyone and to immediately inform about the same in case such activities are found committed by anybody. It also instructed the district-based election code monitoring committees, the Election Officer and the Monitoring Officer to promptly initiate action on matters that call for such action. The meeting was chaired by Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, who is the Coordinator of the Central Election Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee. Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya and Commissioner Ishwori Prasad Poudel were also present in the meeting. Likewise, the Nepal Police has been directed, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, to prohibit the sale, distribution and consumption of alcohol during the election silence period (48 hours before the start of the voting and until the completion of vote counting) and to confiscate the contraband if be required as per the existing laws. The meeting also directed the Monitoring Officer and District Code Monitoring Committee to submit to the Central Code Monitoring Committee or to the Election Commission within three days a report on the complaints related to the code violation received so far, the clarification sought in that connection, the clearance of the complaints and the status of action initiated till date.

As the UN climate change conference, COP27, has come halfway to the two-week-long event in Sharma El Sheikh city of Egypt, the world leaders have repeated the warning of 'climate hell', while decisive negotiations are now transferred to the political table. Similarly, as in the previous years, the poor and least developed countries (LDCs) are univocal to remind the historic responsibility of the industrially developed and rich countries behind growing greenhouse gas emission and the brunt being borne by the small and under-resourced ones. Since the beginning of the conference, various world leaders including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and world climate champion Al Gore addressed the event. Both Al Gore and the US President Joe Biden seconded the warning made by the Secretary General that the world was making headway to 'climate hell'. It evidently shows a global urgency on climate change. Similarly, other experts, observers and researchers have so far shared both hope and despair over the event delivery. Some positive campaigns and best practices shared in the conference and side events have built hope while the prospect of tough negotiation ahead to deal with the climate crisis is likely to shake trust. Expert on climate change adaptation and development, Dr Lisa Schipper, mentions in tweet, "Half the events I’ve attended at #COP27 is bubbling with positive examples of local action to address climate change. The other half warn against the absolutely massive scale and severity of the challenge. What’s being done is NOT ENOUGH without government commitments." Similarly, reviewing the first week of the COP27, a PhD candidate of geography at Cambridge University, Friederike Hartz, said: "COP27 started out with a lot of hope, especially in the context of loss and damage. Getting a sub-agenda item on loss and damage finance was a historic success. Week two will now show what this was actually worth. A lot of work remains to be done for negotiators." Nepal has shared best practices of locally-led climate change adaptation. The officials from the Ministry of Forests and Environment claimed that Nepal is the champion on climate change adaptation. Nepal is vibrantly raising the issues of loss and damage and impact on the mountain ecosystem this time. The second week is awaited to see how effectively and convincingly Nepal and LDCs raise their concern. In this regard, climate change specialist Bimal Regmi shared from Egypt, "The Nepali delegation has been very active in lobbying for additional financial resources for scaling out locally led adaptation and direct access to international finance. We aren’t arguing that the current financial instrument within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has failed to provide fast track financing to adequately support impacted and vulnerable communities." He however suggested that it is time to reform these institutions. Moreover, climate change negotiator for LDC, Manjeet Dhakal, shared from Egypt that the negotiations have now moved to the second week, where the ministers would take over and try to resolve divergence at political level. When asked whether there was any significant achievement in the first week in the global climate event, Dhakal observed, "The progress on the first week was slow and many political differences are still to be resolved." According to him, the major topics are reducing emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C, doubling support for adaptation, and establishment of dedicated funding for loss and damage. He commented that the negotiating texts are lengthy with multiple options that would require political breakthrough. Meanwhile, climate expert Ngamindra Dahal said, “Major emitters intend to shift debate beyond 1.5-degree centigrade target which will kill hope of the most vulnerable countries from the global south.” A week to go, let's see how the COP27, regarded as the implementation summit, will be able to act on fostering the common global agenda of ensuring safe future to entire humanity and planet.  

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) has urged all 753 local levels to provide their buildings, premises and physical structures for the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. The Ministry on Friday issued a circular and directed to this effect, said Chiranjabi Nepal, section officer at the Ministry. It has also asked them to promptly swing into action in this regard. It acted on the request by the Election Commission to help manage buildings, premises and physical infrastructures belonging to all 753 local levels for the polls.  

Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh, who is contesting the election for a seat in the House of Representatives from Kathmandu constituency 1, has said he would take initiatives to resolve problems of the landless squatters. To deal with land-related issues, the National Land Commission was formed, and a permanent solution to their problems would be sought acting on a report provided by the Commission, he said. "The Commission has begun its work. At present, it has come to a halt due to the polls," he said at an election program organized along the Bagmati river banks at Thapathali. Demands of the landless squatters would be taken into consideration, he said.    

The Nepal-India border in Dhanusha district of Nepal will be closed in view of the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Province Assembly (PA). The border will be closed 72 hours before the voting on November 20, considering the possible security threats during the polls, said Chief District Officer, Dhanusha, Surendra Paudel. A joint meeting of security officials of both the countries at Jainagar in Madhubani district in India took a decision to this effect. The meeting also discussed issues of people's mobility across the border, encroachment and management of the no-man's land, internal security of both Nepal and India and smuggling of narcotic drugs and alcohol illegally, he said. The meeting was led by Paudel on behalf of Nepal, and District Magistrate, Madhubani, Arvind Kumar Verma from Indian side.

A bicycle rider died after falling off a bridge at Ghailadubba in Mechinagar of Jhapa district on Saturday night. The deceased has been identified as Hom Bahadur Pokharel (45) of Buddhashanti-5.

Krishna Thapa, a resident of Byas Municipality-10 in Tanahun, is physically disabled. She needs the help of a wheelchair for her mobility. Thapa is looking forward to voting in the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections to be held on November 20. However, many people with disabilities like Thapa face problems due to non-disability friendly polling stations during the elections. She complains that despite repeated demands the polling stations have not been made disabled-friendly. Thapa is the secretary of Sahridayi Manch Tanahun, which has been working in the field of disability. Thapa also says that the people with disabilities do not want others to cast their votes. "We want to exercise our right to vote on our own." Hari Prasad Dhakal, head of the election office, said that arrangements will be made to allow the people with disabilities to vote easily. There are 350 polling stations in the district. All the polling stations have been set up in schools and government buildings. And they are not disabled-friendly.