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A meeting of the ruling coalition has begun to finalize seats sharing in the elections to the members of the House of Representatives and Province Assembly scheduled for November 20. Vice-Chairperson of Rastriya Janamorcha Durga Poudel said that the meeting of the ruling coalition has commenced at Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar to discuss the agenda of seats sharing among the coalition partners. Top leaders from the CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal and Janamorcha are also attending the meeting. Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba initiated the meeting. Likewise, a separate meeting of the NC office-bearers is also taking place at the PM residence in Baluwatar for internal discussion of the party. The political parties have stepped up their discussions with the scheduled day for finalizing the closed list of Proportional Representation (PR) and filing candidacy for first-past-the-post electoral system coming near.  

Like every year during festivals, Nepali people have been returning home in hordes from neighboring Indian cities for the upcoming Dashain festival. Jamunaha transit in Nepalgunj has witnessed an increasing number of Nepali people returning home for the festival. Around 5,000 people entered Nepal from the transit on a daily basis, said Senior Sub Inspector Madhav Rijal, adding that most of the returnees were migrant workers. In general, Nepali people returned home from jobs in Indian cities for festivals like Dashain, Tihar and Chhath. After the festivals were over and there was no work at home, they again went to work in India. Most youths from Lumbini and Karnali Provinces went to Indian cities for job opportunities. The seasonal migrant workers returned home for festivals and to harvest and cultivate crops, said Rijal. However, the India returnee Nepali migrant workers faced the perennial problems of extortions and other hassles at the border especially during festivals. Security arrangements have been made at the transits to facilitate the mobility of the Nepali people returning home for festivals, said Superintendent of Police Shyam Krishna Adhikari. In view of Dashain, citizen help desks have been set up at seven places in Banke district including Jamunaha, Nepalgunj Bus Park, Kohalpur Bus Park, Samjhana Chowk and Chisapani of Baijanath, Dhanauli of Khajura and Kusum of Raptisonari, which hear into and address problems and complaints of the Nepali people returning home from Indian cities, he said.  

As the low-pressure line of the monsoon is near to its average line, Province 1, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province, Karnali Province and Sudurpaschim Province are likely to receive light rain today. Partial rain is forecast in other provinces, according to the Weather Forecast Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Some places in Province 1 and one to two places of remaining provinces are receiving light rain now. In the afternoon, the weather will remain partly cloudy in some places of Province 1, Madhesh Province, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province and Karnali Province. The Department has forecast chances of heavy rain in one to two places of the Sudurpaschim Province. The weather pattern tonight will also remain the same of the afternoon, it is said. Kathmandu would see maximum temperature of 30 Degree Celsius and minimum 19.6 Degree Celsius today.

As the construction works along the Narayangarh-Butwal road section of the East West Highway remained intolerably slow, the government has warned the contractor of contract termination. Issuing a notice on Sunday, the South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation Road Connectivity Project of the Department of Roads said that the contract agreement would be terminated if the existing way of working of the contractor was not improved. The 114 kilometers of road stretch was separated in two sections while awarding the contract through a global bidding process. The China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited had won the tender bidding of both section for pledging to construct the road section in the minimum base rate. It is said that several complaints were received on the part of the construction company regarding the dillydallying of the project. The project was expected to complete on August 7, 2022. However, the construction company completed just 18 per cent of the total task in the final deadline. Against this backdrop, the Department of Roads has warned the construction company to mend its ways and ensure reforms in a month otherwise get ready to face contract termination. The Department has further said that the travelers and vehicles have faced several issues including difficulties in travel, air pollution and others due to carelessness of the construction company. The community people in the affected area have also suffered while road accidents have soared. As the contract agreement ended on August 7, the government has extended the deadline for one more year at the request of the construction company but the construction works at present have halted, Chief Engineer of Narayanghat-Butwal Road Project (Eastern Section) Ramesh Kumar Dristi said. The project being developed with nearly Rs 17 billion in loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

The first day of "Navaratra" is being marked today by worshiping the deity Shailaputri in accordance with Vedic rituals and preparing for Jamara (barley shoots) by sowing maize and barley seeds in a jar filled with soil and cow dung for germination. Deity Shailaputri is worshiped for observing Ghatastapana on the auspicious hour. The auspicious hour for observing Ghatasthapana is 10:23 am today, according to Nepal Calendar Determination Committee. Deity Shailaputri is one of the nine deities worshiped in Navaratri. Prayers are also offered to Durga Bhavani, the goddess of power today. Germination of the auspicious "Jamara" is also initiated at Hanumandhoka Dashain Ghar in accordance with Vedic rituals. With the marking of Ghatasthapana, celebrations and worships take place in the Shaktipeeth across the country including in the Kathmandu Valley. Likewise, there is also a tradition of sacrificing animals while initiating the germination of the "Jamara".

The Election Commission has taken stock of the integrated security plan developed by security agencies for the November 20 House of Representatives and Province Assembly elections. In a meeting at the EC today, chiefs of security agencies and secretaries of the Ministries of Home and Defense apprised Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya and his team of the security plan. The meeting was attended by secretary of the Home Ministry Binod Prakash Singh, secretary of the Defense Ministry Kiran Raj Sharma, Lieutenant General of Nepal Army Bal Krishna Karki, Inspector General of Nepal Police Dhiraj Pratap Singh, Armed Police Force IGP Raju Aryal and Chief of the National Investigation Department Hutaraj Thapa.  

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that he was positive about the demands put forth by retired integrated army personnel. The former Prime Minister in his address to the first national gathering of the retired integrated Army personnel here on Sunday, said "Their major demand is that they should be associated with the party organization and need the opportunity to contest in the election. I have told them that they can associate with the party organization and can contest in the polls." On the occasion, they informed leader Dahal about their current situation and problems facing the party. Chair Dahal who reached his home district Chitwan to take part in various party programs is scheduled to stay here for two more days. He also met with fish traders. During the meeting, he assured them of addressing their demands. "Policymaking has been completed. Problems have surfaced without its implementation." At the time, they complained that they were finding it hard to compete with fishes brought from foreign countries by evading taxes. President of the Nepal Fish Entrepreneurs Association, Chitwan, Khagendra Subedi demanded that the government control import of unhealthy fish from neighboring India.  

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal addressed the annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77&China (G-77 &China) on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA on September 23. In the meeting, Foreign Secretary Paudyal stated that humanity faces multiple challenges arising from the pandemic, climate crisis, geopolitical tensions, and economic recession. People's livelihoods in vulnerable nations like the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDCs were severely impacted by the problems like rising inequality, soaring food and fuel prices as well as financial and debt distress, he said. He called for the timely implementation of internationally agreed goals and frameworks like 2030 Agenda, Paris Agreement, Addis Ababa Action Agenda, among others, as a way out of the crisis, Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, New York, stated in a press release. Emphasizing on the importance of solidarity and cooperation at the global level, the Foreign Secretary underscored the need to fulfill ODA commitment and to utilize all forms of cooperation – North-South, South-South and Triangular – to accelerate global development. He reiterated Nepal's solidarity with the group's principles of unity, solidarity, and cooperation, and Nepal's support for the cause of global peace and prosperity. Earlier on September 23, the Foreign Secretary had cordial meetings separately with the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Ali Sabry and Deputy-Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Ha Kim Ngoc, and discussed matters of mutual interest at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. The Foreign Secretary also had a fruitful meeting with UN Under-Secretary General and High Representative Ms Rabab Fatima. The discussion was focused on strengthening cooperation between Nepal and the UN on issues related to LDCs and LLDCs, and Nepal's graduation from  the LDC category. Similarly, Foreign Secretary Paudyal met separately with Under-Secretary General for Operational Support, Atul Khare and Under-Secretary General for Peace Operation Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Matters related to Nepal-UN partnership in UN peacekeeping including deployment, training and safety/security of peacekeepers were discussed, the Permanent Mission stated.