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Foreign Minister Bala Nanda Sharma called on the newly elected Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman, on Tuesday evening.

He extended warm felicitations and handed over a congratulatory message from Prime Minister of Nepal, Sushila Karki. 

In her message, PM Karki congratulated Bangladeshi Prime Minister Rahman on his election and expressed her willingness to work together in a spirit of mutual respect, shared commitment and partnership to ensure that Nepal-Bangladesh ties continue to flourish for the mutual benefit of the two countries and people. 

 The Foreign Minister also congratulated Rahman on leading the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to a resounding victory in the national elections held on February 12 and commended the Government of Bangladesh for the successful conduct of elections and smooth transition to the democratic process. 

On the occasion, Prime Minister Rahman thanked Foreign Minister Sharma for attending the oath-taking ceremony and underscored that his visit reflects the solidarity and goodwill of the government and people of Nepal towards the government and people of Bangladesh.

The two leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to further strengthening the enduring partnership between Nepal and Bangladesh and held a constructive exchange on advancing bilateral cooperation across areas of trade, investment, energy, connectivity, education, and tourism, among others, according to Nepali Embassy in Bangladesh.

Rahman also expressed his best wishes for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Nepal. 

Foreign Minister Sharma also held a meeting with the leader of the opposition and Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Dr Shafiqur Rahman. 

During the meeting, the two leaders deliberated on key areas of bilateral cooperation. 

Foreign Minister Sharma is on a visit to Bangladesh from February 16 to 19.

The Election Commission (EC) has appealed to one and all not to misuse technology in a way it jeopardizes election fairness and integrity. 

EC drew attention of all sides not to disseminate fake information on social networks, but to extend cooperation in creating a clean information atmosphere for holding elections successfully.

Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari urged users of mass media and content creators to avoid posting the contents generated by artificial intelligence that intend to fuel confusion and illusion. It is time to make the election a dignified exercise. 

The media houses are also urged not to make poll surveys.  

Such poll surveys disillusions voters, affecting their voting rights proposed by Election Code of Conduct, 2082. It disheartens candidates and unsettles the competitive atmosphere. So such practices should not be continued, EC added.

Irrespective of the convenience caused by the technology, its misuse jeopardizes election integrity, EC stressed. It is everyone's responsibility to adhere fully to the election code of conduct.

Printing of all ballot papers required for the election to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 5 has been completed.

Managing Director of the Janak Education Material Centre Limited, Yadu Nath Poudel, shared that the JEMC completed its responsibility of printing ballot papers required for the election on Monday evening.

The ballot papers would be dispatched to respective provinces after their packaging from today itself, Poudel added.

He mentioned, "We have completed the printing of 20.3 million ballot papers under the first-past-the-post electoral system on Monday evening. The task of printing ballot papers has been completed within 40 days as we had a 42 days period for this purpose. We will dispatch ballot papers to all districts within the next 10 days."

The JEMC had been printing up to 1.5 million ballot papers every day.  It had already printed one million model ballot papers and the Election Commission had dispatched it to different places. 

Similarly, activities are underway to send 20.83 million ballot papers under proportional representatives (PR) electoral system, added the JEMC. 

Poudel opined that ballot papers have already reached Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces and activities are on to send ballot papers in the remaining places within 10 days.

The number of candidates opening bank accounts for the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) polls has gradually increased. 

The Election Commission (EC) has made a mandatory provision for candidates to open accounts in the bank and financial institutions (BFIs) to keep records of entire financial transactions of candidates for the election purpose.

As of now, 671 candidates have submitted their bank accounts to the EC, according to the EC's Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai.

As per the election laws, the political parties and candidates contesting the HoR elections scheduled for March 5 should spend their money only through the banking channel, a tool to ensure transparency in electoral spending.

Secretary at the EC, Krishna Bahadur Raut, said that some candidates from the remote districts including Kalikot have already submitted their bank account at the EC and expected the candidates from other districts to open and submit their bank account details.