Parliament secretariat all set to welcome new HoR members
The federal parliament secretariat is all set to welcome new House of Representatives members.
It had called all HoR members to attend the swearing-in ceremony to be held on March 26.
The oath-taking ceremony would be conducted at 2 pm.
However, the secretariat has requested all HoR members to arrive at the venue in formal or cultural attire before two hours.
President Ram Chandra Paudel is scheduled to administer oath to the senior most HoR member Arjun Narsing KC (78) at Shitalniwas on March 25, a day before HoR members are administered.
KC, as the senior most HoR member, will administer the oath to other members the next day, March 26.
Article 88 of the Constitution has the provision that every HoR member needs to take oath before attending the HoR meeting or HoR committee meeting.
Similarly, before the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker or their posts left vacant, the senior most member among the available HoR members chair the HoR meeting as per Article 91 (5) of the Constitution.
Spokesperson at the federal parliament secretariat, Ekaram Giri, informed that the secretariat was working to ensure necessary arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected HoR members. "Preparation is made to conduct the swearing-in ceremony of lawmakers and initial meetings of the HoR in the multi-purpose hall of the federal parliament building inside Singh Durbar," he informed.
Efforts are on to finalize technical issues following the physical construction of the hall. Security arrangements are also underway.
The President summons the parliament session based on the recommendation of the government.
Once the session is summoned, the parliament secretariat will ramp up preparation for the meeting.
Spokesperson Giri further informed that the parliamentary party offices have been managed as per the size of the political parties determined through the March 5 HoR election.
In the March 5 HoR election, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged the largest with 182 seats in HoR, while the Nepali Congress the second with 38 seats, the CPN-UML the thirds with 25 seats, the Nepali Communist Party the fourth with 17 seats, the Shram Sanskriti Party the fifth with seven seats, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party the sixth with five seats and an independent one.
Economist Acharya dies at 72
Veteran economist Keshav Acharya died at the age of 72 on Sunday.
He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Annapurna Neuro Hospital following a stroke, according to family.
The body will be cremated tomorrow.
He was survived by a wife, a son and a daughter.
HK police can now demand phone passwords under new national security rules
Hong Kong police can now demand phone or computer passwords from those who are suspected of breaching the wide-ranging National Security Law (NSL), BBC reported.
Those who refuse could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to HK$100,000 ($12,700; £9,600), and individuals who provide "false or misleading information" could face up to three years in jail.
It comes as part of new amendments to a bylaw under the NSL that the government gazetted on Monday, according to BBC.
Iran says Hormuz open to all but ‘enemy-linked’ ships
The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to "Iran's enemies", Iranian media reports published on Sunday quoted Iran's representative to the U.N. maritime agency as saying, Reuters reported.
Ali Mousavi's comments came from an interview published on Friday by Chinese news agency Xinhua, before U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to target Iranian power plants if the strait was not "fully open" within 48 hours.
The threat of Iranian attacks during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has kept most ships from getting through the narrow strait, the conduit for around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, threatening a global energy shock, according to Reuters.
