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CPN (Unified Socialist) senior leader Jhalanath Khanal has announced that his party and the CPN (Maoist Center) would be unified soon after the elections. Senior leader Khanal said this during a program organized by his party at Tansen on Monday. For now, the party was for a work alliance till elections and then got unified with the CPN (Maoist Center), he reiterated. He further argued that his party was close to the Maoist Center in terms of policy, principles and thoughts, which was paving way for the unification. He also underscored the need for unification among all communist parties for building a strong communist party in Nepal. According to him, a task force was formed by the ruling alliance to decide on the seat sharing for the coming November 20 elections, which would give a final decision within some days. Present five-party alliance would continue till the election, he said, reminding that the communist party was given nearly two-thirds of total votes in the last general election, but the unification among communist parties failed due to internal strife.

Mayor of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Balendra Shah, has directed the private companies involved in garbage management of KMC to the final management of all the uncollected waste within a week.

Out of 32 wards of KMC, garbage is being managed with the collaboration of private companies in all wards except nine wards. Mayor Shah asked the private companies to collect the piled-up waste and transport it to Bancharedanda within a week as they were not starting to collect the garbage. The KMC and private sector have been collecting the trash in Kathmandu Valley separating the areas. Saying the private companies have not fulfilled their responsibility, the KMC warned of action against the private companies not managing the solid waste regularly. Activities to manage garbage started on Thursday after the four-point deal between Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Dhading and Nuwakot and locals of Sisdol and Bancharedanda last week. Garbage collection was obstructed for the past two months. The solid waste produced in 17 other local levels including KMC is being managed at Bancharedanda. A total of 1,200 metric tonnes of garbage is produced in Kathmandu Valley every day. Of them, 500 metric tonnes of garbage is produced in the KMC.

Nepal and the UK signed a health partnership agreement on Monday. Following the deal, Nepal can now send the Nepali nurses to work in the UK. Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Ek Narayan Aryal and British Ambassador to Nepal, Nicola Pollitt signed the agreement amidst a program held at the Ministry today. The nurses going to the UK for employment need not have to pay any fees. They can work there for five years.

The Ministry of Health and Population has launched the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign today targeting children aged 5-12 in 50 districts, out of 77, across the country. According to the Ministry, under the campaign, the target group will be administered the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The campaign will run until August 27. Ministry joint-spokesperson Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari said the vaccination centers have been set up within the schools. Besides, it is available in Balmandir (children’s home) and prisons. Those children to be incorporated in the campaign will get the second dose from September 12 to 17. Besides, children who are not enrolled at schools will be administered the vaccine upon the showing of proof of age document or their parents/guardian declaring the age of children that will be eligible for taking the shots. The campaign covers Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Panchthar, Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Taplejung, Tehrathum and Udyapur in Province 1, Bara, Rautahat, and Sarlahi in Madhesh Province, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchowk in Bagmati Province, Baglung, Gorkha, Lamjung, Manang, Myagdi, Parbat, Syangja, and Tanahu in Gandaki, Kapilvastu, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Palpa, Pyuthan, Rolpa and Rukum East in Lumbini, Rukum West, Salyan, Dolpa, Humla, Jumla, Kalikot, Mugu, Dailekh and Jajarkot in Karnali and Achham, Doti, Bajhang, Bajura, Baitadi and Darchula for the vaccination.

The District Police Office, Baglung has apprehended two persons for their alleged involvement in kidnapping a girl. Among the accused, one is a policeman. The suspects have been identified as Shankar Acharya and Bhagawati Chhetri (36) of Jaimini Municipality-7 in the district. Acharya is a policeman. They tried to abduct a six-year-old daughter of Sapana Thapa of Dhading and currently residing at Ramrekha of Baglung Municipality-1. The two are accused of forcibly picking up the girl from Hallanchowk of Baglung-2 and trying to take her towards Buddha Bihar. The girl's mother said that the duo took her daughter when she was at her office and her spouse was out of their residence to buy vegetables. Police said that they are looking into the case.

The 750-megwatt West Seti HydroPower Project based in the Sudurpaschim Province has entered a new phase of development with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nepal and India to this regard. Indian state-owned NHPC Limited and the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) signed the MoU to develop the much- awaited project on Thursday.  The development of the storage type project listed as the project of national pride was a dream of Nepal for around forty years. Confusion over the implementation of the project was looming large with international companies: SMEC from Australia and Three Gorges from China, leaving the contracts to develop it in the mid. Now, the NHPC which carries a history of developing projects equivalent to around 7,300 megawatts in Himachal Pradesh, India and other areas has agreed to develop the West Seti and 450 –megawatt Seti River-6 Hydropower Project under a bundling model. As pledged by NHPC Chair and Managing Director Abhay Kumar Singh during the MoU signing ceremony, the Project will find its tentative shape within a year.  Australian Snowy Mountain's Engineering Corporation (SMEC) has prepared a detailed project report in regard with the West Seti and China's State-owned China Three Gorges Corporation has also carried out re-study on the DPR readied by the SMEC. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Thursday's development has obviously provided a reason to believe that we need to wait a long time for our dream to come true. Nepali is making efforts to explore and reach with its untapped potentials for hydropower development which is its one of the top priorities. The decision to take the West Seti ahead is itself a significant achievement.  The Arun III Hydropower Projects reports above 50 percent physical progress.  Likewise, processes are ahead to develop the Lower Arun and Arun IV Projects in partnership with the Indian company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, known as SJVN, the developer of the Arun III. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who was present to grace the MoU signing-in ceremony declared the Project is crucial not only for the development of the Sudurpaschim but also for overall economic and social development of the nation. Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board Nepal, Sushil Bhatta, and Chairperson and Managing Director of NHPC, Abhay Kumar Singh, signed the MoU on Thursday. An understanding has been reached between NHPC and HIDCL regarding collaboration in the energy sector in the course of an investment summit organized by the Board in 2019. The proposer has to file an application for West Seti Hydropower Project survey permission within 45 days after signing the MoU. There is a provision that applications should be filed within six months for the Seti-6 project. An arrangement has been made where the company has to submit its report at the Board after carrying out a detailed project report within two years from getting survey permission. It might not take such a long time as all preparatory activities of the project have already been completed. The MoU has mentioned that different issues including estimated cost, market assurance, guarantee of financial sources should be incorporated in the report. The two sides would hold discussion for the Project Development Agreement (PDA) and the Board would facilitate it. The Indian Company-NHPC has already constructed hydropower projects generating more than 7,000 MW power. The company has expressed commitment to complete the project on time. NHPC to seek market in India The Board's meeting on August 8 this year had assigned NHPC to take charge of Project's works. The Indian company had proposed to seek a market in India for electricity produced in Nepal apart from making arrangements for financial and technical management of the Project. Following the visit of Nepali's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India in last April, the Project which was on 'hold' of the French, the Australian and Chinese companies from time to time is now bound to proceed in a new manner with a clear framework. The NHPC Limited has submitted an application to the Board to implement the Project through dialogues, the Board said. Board's 47th meeting had formed a committee coordinated by vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission Bishwanath Poudel to prepare a draft on the modality of development and investment of the West Seti and Seti River-6 Joint Hydropower Project. The Board had decided to implement the recommendations furnished by the Committee on the Project. Former Energy Secretary Anup Kumar Upadhyay viewed that there was no other better option than this Company which was owned by the Indian government and had specialization on the hydropower project. Upadhyay further expressed, "This project will proceed now onward since NHPC is technically and economically sound and can provide a market to the electricity produced here." The locals in the project sites were waiting forever to see the Project, initiated since 2036 BS, come to fruition. Lack of clarity on modality of construction, lack of decision on construction of transmission line, settlement of the displaced ones and no determination on market for the produced electricity among others had pushed the Project in limbo for a long time. Now the Sudurpaschim folks are confident that the Project works will move ahead. The Chinese company- Three Gorges – had also cited the same reason when it pulled out of the project. According to officials involved in the project, the Australian company, Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC), which was engaged in preparing the detailed project report (DPR) of the project since August 1989, submitted its report in 1992. The agreement signed with SMEC on the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model was never implemented. SMEC kept the project 'on hold' for 18 years although it kept on saying it was constructing the project. Deciding that 'enough is enough', the government itself took ownership of the project in 2011. SMRC had stated that it will sell the electricity produced from the project to India and transfer the project in its current condition to the government 30 years from the date of starting power production.

Three persons died in two separate road accidents in Kurintar and Ratnanagar of Chitwan district. Two youths died when a motorcycle (Ba 88 Pa 5301) heading towards Kathmandu from Narayanghat collided with a truck (Na 6 Kha 5913) at Kurintar in Ichchhakamana Rural Municipality-4 along the Prithvi Highway. The deceased have been identified as bike rider Saroj Rokaya (25) of Dailekh and Saroj Majhi (31) of Ishwarpur Rural Municipality-1 in Sarlahi district, the District Traffic Police Office said. The duo breathed their last during the course of treatment at the Chitwan Medical College. Likewise, a pedestrian died when a jeep knocked him down near Khageri bridge in Ratnanagar Municipality-9, police said. Khadak Bahadur Ranamagar (70), who was critically injured in the accident, died while receiving treatment at the Chitwan Medical College Hospital this morning. The jeep driver fled the scene after the accident, it has been learnt. Meanwhile, the local residents have staged a demonstration demanding arrest of the jeep driver.  

Hindus across the country are celebrating Shree Krishna Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, by organizing various programs on Friday. It is believed that Lord Shri Krishna was born at the midnight of Bhadrakrishna Ashtami day as per the lunar calendar during the Dwapar era. Lord Krishna, born to Basudev and Devaki to kill King Kansa in Mathura, is considered the incarnation of Lord Bishnu, the protector of human beings from evil, injustice and devilish forces. Devotees throng the temples of Lord Krishna including the famous Shree Krishna Temple of Mangal Bazaar in Lalitpur. Devotees, especially women, spend the night chanting prayers and devotional songs, dancing and lighting oil-fed lamps.