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The Nepali debate team has set a new national record at the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) by advancing into the knockout rounds and reaching the Round of 16 for the first time. The team concluded their historic run at the 36th edition of the Championships, held in Belgrade, Serbia, narrowly losing to Qatar in the Round of 16.

Team Nepal won five out of eight preliminary rounds and secured 13 ballots across all preliminary rounds. They achieved victories against Uganda, Argentina, Slovakia, Poland, and Japan, with losses to the Netherlands, Serbia, and England. In the knockout stage, Nepal defeated the UAE in the Round of 32.

Previously ranked 40th in the world for debate, the Nepali team finished as one of the top 16 countries out of the 68 participating in the World Championship, breaking all previous national records. The team members—Bishwojeet Bista, Sadhabi Mahat, Sangya Pandey, and Sujal Khadka—were coached by former national team member and DNN Board Member Pragyan Kumar Acharya. Debate Network Nepal (DNN), the national debating body, facilitated the screening and participation. The team was supported by Himalayan Capital Pvt Ltd and Lumiere Education.

Nepal first participated in the WSDC in 2010 in Qatar, followed by appearances in 2011 in Scotland and 2015 in Singapore. Since the 2016 WSDC in Germany, DNN has been facilitating the participation. This is Nepal's 12th participation and the ninth iteration managed by DNN.

The global tournament follows a three-versus-three WSDC format, with each round lasting an hour and featuring six main speeches and two reply speeches. Impromptu Points of Information (POIs) are exchanged during the main speeches and must be addressed by the speaker on the spot. The topics, referred to as motions, are considered to be proposed by the Government side in Parliament. The motion for the Round of 16 was “This house regrets the narrative that money cannot buy happiness.” Out of the three judges, the Chair Judge voted in favor of Nepal, but it was not enough for Opposition Nepal to advance to the quarter-finals.

The Honorary Consul Corps-Nepal (HCC-N) celebrated its Charter Day and convened the 17th Annual General Meeting at Hotel Marriott Kathmandu on Tuesday. On the occasion, Chandra Dhakal, Honorary Consul of Indonesia to Nepal, was elected as the new Dean of HCC-N. Outgoing Dean Vishnu Agarwal handed over the deanship and organization’s logo to Dhakal.

With 62 Honorary Consuls/Consul Generals representing countries without residential diplomatic missions in Nepal, HCC-N plays a pivotal role in promoting economic, cultural, and diplomatic ties between Nepal and these nations, claims the organization. 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba, the Chief Guest of the event, acknowledged the significant contributions of Honorary Consuls and Consul General in enhancing Nepal’s international relations. She emphasized the importance of economic diplomacy in attracting foreign investment from the represented countries.

Outgoing Dean Agarwal underscored the values of service, volunteerism, and goodwill that define HCC-N’s initiatives. He highlighted that the Lumbini Conclave on ‘Global Peace and Prosperity’ was successful in promoting the message of peace, tourism, trade and mutual understanding among nations. The conclave, organized on the aegis of HCCN, was attended by 19 non-residential ambassadors and mission representatives. 

In his address as the new Dean, Dhakal outlined his vision for HCCN, emphasizing its role in advancing economic diplomacy and safeguarding the interests of sending states. He pledged to strengthen partnerships with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to capitalize on emerging opportunities for Nepal’s economic growth and development. “I assure you the HCCN will actively lobby for increased FDI and the signing of BIAs with as many countries as possible. Our efforts will bring substantial investment into Nepal and contribute to our nation’s economic growth,” he said. He also highlighted the importance of a conducive investment climate in Nepal. 

The event also launched the HCC-N website (www.hcc-nepal.org).

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has awarded various personalities with the Chinnalata Puraskar (Award) for their notable contributions in Nepali language, literature and art sectors.

On the occasion of 102th birth anniversary of lyricist Ramola Devi Shah 'Chinnalata' here today, PM Oli awarded lyrist Bhusan Kharel, musician Manaraja Nakarmi, singer Shiva Pariyar and youth singer Menuka Poudel. 

These awards were for the year Chinnalata Puraskar-2079 BS.

Similarly, Chinnalata Puraskar-2080 BS was given to lyrist Birendra Pathak, musician Chandi Prasad Kafle, singer Manila Sotang and youth singer Bhupu Pandey.

The award carries a purse of Rs 100,000 each for lyrics, music and singing category while youth singing category has Rs 50,000 as a cash prize, it was shared.

The annual general meeting of the Nepal chapter of PEN International, an international organization of writers, has concluded. The meeting, chaired by PEN Nepal President Ram Kumar Pandey, also elected a new working committee. According to the constitution of PEN, Bhishma Upreti has been elected as the president of the newly elected working committee, Hiranya Kumari Pathak as the Vice-president, and Mitrabandhu Poudel as the general secretary. Electoral Officers Shiromani Dawadi and Shushma Chitrakar awarded certificates to the elected officers, confirming their official status.

Senior writer and linguist Chunamani Bandhu, while addressing the formal session of the general meeting, emphasized that as PEN is an international organization, it is necessary to translate Nepali works to internationalize Nepali literature while maintaining its dignity. He also suggested being active institutionally to represent the entire Nepali literary world in the future.

On the same occasion, the book ‘Literary Leadership’ was released by Pandey, which reflects his extensive experience as the president of PEN Nepal and contains the activities, experiences, and insights from his tenure. He also passed proposals to reduce the term of PEN’s working committee from five years to three years, award annual prizes to English books based on Nepali literature, and revise the statute as needed.