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The Election Commission (EC) has appointed the district code of conduct monitoring officers in view of the elections to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. The voting for the twin elections is taking place on November 20 in a single phase. Chiefs of the District Treasury Controller Offices have been designated as the monitoring officers in the respective districts. The appointment was made in accordance with the Clause 32 of election code of conduct. According to EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel, the district election code of conduct monitoring officers has been instructed to make sure that government employees, teachers and any person responsible for abiding by the election code of conduct will do it. In case of the violation of code of conduct, monitoring officers are authorized to take action. The district election code of conduct monitoring committee is coordinated by the chief election officer while at the central level, the central code of conduct monitoring committee is headed by election commissioner.  

Nine candidates have withdrawn their candidacies for the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly election. One candidate who had filed his candidacy for the election to the House of Representatives and eight for the Provincial Assembly have taken back their nominations. Rabindraman Shrestha, who had filed his nomination in Banke constituency number-3, has withdrawn his candidacy. Likewise, Provincial Assembly candidates Ugrasen Yadav and Bikram Yadav from constituency-1, Rajendra Kandel and Binaychandra Gupta as independent candidates from no-2, Zakir Hussain, Deepak GM, Indra Bahadur Thapa, Rajkumar Dhakal and Sant Bahadur Khatri as Provincial Assembly candidates from constituency no 3 withdrew their nominations. Banke with three constituencies will elect a total of nine representatives to the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly. Altogether 99 candidates are in the fray for the nine seats. The elections to the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly are slated for November 20.

The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a large majority, condemning the barbaric and brutal attack by Russia on Ukraine, with 143 member-states voting in favor of it. Nepal has also voted in favor of the resolution. In the voting held on Wednesday, 143 countries voted in favor and while five countries voted against it. The countries who voted against were Belarus, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. Similarly, 35 countries abstained from the vote. A majority of those countries abstaining were African nations, alongside China and India. "We condemn the Russia's illegal so-called referendum within Ukraine's internationally-recognized borders and demand it reverses its annexation declaration", reads the resolution.  

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma attended the 53rd Governors' Session of the World Bank Group and the South East Asian Group of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. In the session held at the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, various problems faced by the member states were discussed. On the occasion, the participants emphasized that the problems of countries like Nepal should be addressed by providing financial aid to address the problems created globally. Likewise, Finance Minister Sharma participated in the sideline executive dialogue session and discussed the steps taken by the member states to address the problems brought by climate change. Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Mahaprasad Adhikari, Finance Secretary Krishnahari Pushkar, Ambassador of Nepal to the US Sridhar Khatri and other high-ranking officials participated in the event. Also on Wednesday, Finance Minister Janardhan Sharma met Samantha Power, the chief administrator of the USAID at its headquarters and discussed establishing a strong foundation for promotion of bilateral interests and cooperation between Nepal and the US. In the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma lauded the support provided by the US to the socio-economic development endeavors of Nepal. According to the Nepali Embassy in the US, Finance Minister Sharma sought support for Nepal to resolve the problems brought by climate change. Finance Secretary Krishnahari Pushkar, Ambassador of Nepal to the US Sridhar Khatri and members of the visiting delegation were also present in the meeting.  

China ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi paid a farewell call on Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) Prabhu Ram Sharma at the Army Headquarters on Wednesday. On the occasion, CoAS Sharma congratulated the Chinese ambassador for successfully completing her tenure in Nepal and extended best wishes for her happy future, the Nepali Army Directorate of Public Relations and Information stated. Ambassador Hou is returning home after the completion of her term in Nepal.  

At least 27, 750 people have been infected with dengue in Bagmati province since July 17 till date, the Bagmati Province Health Directorate said. Likewise, 21 persons in the province have died due to dengue infection. It is said out of 13 districts of the province, Kathmandu is the worst-affected while Rasuwa is the least affected. Kathmandu reports 11,467 dengue cases and Rasuwa seven cases so far. The Directorate stated that 8,015 cases are reported in Lalitpur, 3604 cases in Makawanpur, 2108 in Bhaktapur, 1169 in Chitwan, 638 in Dhading, 215 in Kavre, 131 in Nuwakot, 113 in Sindhuli, 125 in Ramechhap, 99 in Sindhupalchok and 69 in Dolakha district. The death toll due to dengue in Bagmati province so far is 21, including seven in Kathmandu, three each in Sindhuli and Ramechhap, two each in Lalitpur, Makawanpur and Chitwan and one each in Bhaktapur and Dhading, the Directorate stated.

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said it would not be acceptable for election observers to be siding with or going against any parties or candidates in the November 20 elections. He referred to some past election incidents wherein some election observers sided with parties or candidates. He was inaugurating a training session for election observers for the election to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly here today. He urged them to help the Election Commission to conclude the elections by following the election code of conduct, 2079 as election observers are an important part of the polls. All political parties, civil society, mass communications and all sectors have an important role in making elections a success as it reawakens citizens' rights and strengthens democracy. Similarly, joint secretary and EC's spokesperson Shaligram Paudel urged election observer organizations to train the observers mobilized for the polls to abide by the poll code of conduct. Election observers from 43 organizations have taken the session.  

The Election Commission (EC) has canceled the nominations of three candidates, including Raju Gurung who had registered his candidacy for the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Rupandehi constituency-2. CPN (Unified Socialist)'s candidate Gurung was contesting with CPN-UML Vice-Chairperson Bishnu Poudel on behalf of the five-party coalition. Along with Gurung, the nomination of Dr Kamal Bhusal of the Hamro Nepali Party was also scrapped. In the information issued by Assistant Returning Officer Ghanashyam Gautam last night, it was stated that Gurung and another independent candidate Himal Basyal were appeared to be disqualified to become candidates for the upcoming election as per the House of Representatives Member Election Act, 2074 and House of Representatives Member Election Directive 2079. It may be noted that a banking offense case was filed against Gurung at the court noting that the latter's North West Nepal Infa Pvt Ltd had not settled its obligatory payment of Rs 22.5 million. On 2 December, 2021, the court had issued a verdict against the chairperson of West Project Construction and Suppliers Pvt Ltd for not clearing the obligated payment. A single bench of Kathmandu District Court Justice Yuwaraj Gautam had decided to penalize six officials of the North West Nepal Infa Pvt Ltd including Gurung Rs 2,000 each and directed them to settle payment as claimed. The Election Law has stipulated that those penalized by the court on banking offense and blacklisted could not become candidates. Likewise, Dr Bhusal's candidacy was cancelled as he was currently undertaking his education receiving financial support from the Nepal government.