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Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has said the party's general convention will be held before the 2084 BS periodic election.

Talking to media today, he said the party's general convention will take place every four years as stipulated by the party's statute.

The party is working on the finalization of the name list of party's active members within a couple of months, according to him.

He, however, said that the party membership issue and other factors are likely to affect the plan to hold the general convention by the end of 2025.

On a different note, Thapa stated that the ordinances issued by the government will be tabled in the House within a few days and will be endorsed following discussions.

The lawmaker also said that the Social Media Bill introduced by the government will not be endorsed without amendments. 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba has said that the construction of the six-lane Chisapani-Gaddachauki road section of the East-West Mahendra Highway will start soon.

Inaugurating the newly constructed administrative building of Lamkichuha Municipality in Kailali today, Minister Rana said that a survey is being conducted for the construction of six lanes from Chisapani in Kailali to Gaddachauki in Kanchanpur in view of the pressure of vehicles.

"Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim Province Kamal Bahadur Shah is taking the initiative to make the highway six-lane. The highway is currently being surveyed. Work on the construction of the six-lane road will begin soon," Minister Rana said.

The Minister expressed her confidence that the administrative building of Lamkichuha Municipality would facilitate the residents of the city to avail integrated services.

Foreign Minister Rana further argued that the government is serious about the overall development of the agricultural sector in the region, adding that she is excited to see the development construction at the local level.

Minister Rana today inaugurated the newly constructed party office of Nepali Congress Kailali Region No. 2 and Lamkichuha Municipal Committee as well. 

Nepal Samajbadi Party (Naya Shakti) Chair Baburam Bhattarai has alleged that three big political forces—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN (Maoist Center)—are taking turns to exploit the country. Speaking at the opening session of the party’s general convention on Sunday, Bhattarai remarked, “We keep saying that old forces have failed, Congress didn’t deliver, and others didn’t either. There are three heads, and they are taking turns to exploit the country.”

He criticized the tendency of political leaders to claim credit for achievements while in power and then complaining about shortcomings once they are out of office. “They create chaos while in power and, once outside, lament that nothing has been done. These three heads have repeatedly troubled the country,” said Bhattarai referring to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli of UML, Sher Bahadur Deuba of Congress, and Pushpa Kamal Dagal of Maoist Center.

Bhattarai emphasized the need to identify and address the root causes of Nepal’s problems. “We must have real discussions on solutions. Nepal faces many challenges—underdevelopment, unemployment, dependency, and economic struggles—all caused by political failures,” he said.

Bhattarai also shared insights into the political document that he was to present at the closed session of the convention later in the day.

The document titled “New Era, New Responsibilities: The Rationale and Foundation of Alternative Politics,” according to Bhattarai, was developed with input from both party members and external contributors. “Each new era demands new ideas, and before anything else, ideological restructuring is necessary,” he said. 

For the convention’s inaugural session, the party had exclusively invited leaders from emerging and alternative political forces. Attendees included Janamat Party Chair CK Raut, Nagarik Unmukti Party patron Resham Chaudhary, Acting Chair of Rastriya Swatantra Party Dol Prasad Aryal, and Bibeksheel Sajha leader Samikshya Banskota.

The Media Council Bill, 2081 BS has been presented in the National Assembly (NA).

Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung tabled the Bill in the session.

Prior to this, NA Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal apprised the House that no notice of protest has been received regarding the Bill.

The government had on January 28 registered the document in the NA, citing it aimed to further systematise the use of social sites, making them decent and secured.

Tabling the Bill, the Minister said the Bill is meant for making the operators and users of social site platforms responsible and accountable and promoting social goodwill, cultural tolerance and good governance through the appropriate and systematic use of social sites.

The Bill has proposed the provisions for license (with a two-year validity) for any companies, firms or institutions to operate digital platforms and renewal of the permission, granting the rights to authorities concerned to ban on the operation of such platforms and the remove the contents in violations of the terms and conditions.

It has proposed conditions for the users of social sites as well.

The Bill prohibiting cyber bullying, stalking and ID hacking, extortion or sextortion, dissemination of vulgar, fake or misleading contents, uploading or dissemination of deep fake videos and the use of accounts with anonymous or pseudonymous identity.

The Bill has wanted that the operation of social sites should not the jeopardize the country's peace and security, order, sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security, national unity, independence and should not feature contents that are against the interests of nation.

In case of the violations of these terms and conditions, the operation license may be scrapped.

It has disapproved the social media contents capable of hurting the dignity of others, trolling, hate speech and distortion of information.

Similarly, post, like, repost, live streaming, subscribe, comment, tag, hashtag or mention with wrong intention is liable to fine up to Rs 500 thousands to users of social sites.

The government claims that in case of the endorsement of Bill and its implementation as the Act will cause a rise in the information security and privacy of personal data, cyber security, and systematization of IT related enterprises and the rise in foreign investment in this sector.