Impeachment Recommendation Committee submits report to Speaker Sapkota
The Impeachment Recommendation Committee submitted the report prepared to impeach suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana to Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota on Saturday. The committee had recommended the House of Representatives to impeach Rana on Saturday itself. The committee passed the report on the basis of majority. The CPN-UML and the Democratic Socialist Party lawmakers, however, expressed their dissatisfaction over the report. UML lawmaker Bishnu Paudel said, “The report was endorsed despite our strong reservation. We have been asking facts with Rana. The report is incomplete.” Among the 11 members in the committee, six lawmakers of the ruling coalition were for impeaching Rana while five lawmakers of UML and Democratic Socialist Party were against it.
Ukraine war: Power back on at huge nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia
The UN's nuclear watchdog (IAEA) says Ukraine's huge Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has begun receiving power from the national grid once again, BBC reported.
Shelling in the area damaged power lines connected to the plant.
All six of its reactors are in a state of cold shutdown, but the plant needs external power to cool its reactors and defend against the risk of a meltdown.
The IAEA says the situation of the plant, which is held by Russian forces, has improved but remains precarious.
A team of nuclear experts from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) travelled to Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear plant, at the beginning of the month.
The trip followed increasing calls from Ukraine and the international community for a safety inspection following reports of shelling.
After the IAEA's first inspection, the agency announced it would maintain a permanent presence in order to monitor the situation.
Members of the team at the site on Saturday learnt that one of the four main external power lines damaged by shelling had been repaired, allowing electricity to be received directly from the national grid, the IAEA tweeted on Saturday.
Further east in Ukraine, the discovery of mass graves in Izyum has led the European Union presidency to call for an international tribunal for war crimes to be carried out.
Hundreds of bodies have been discovered buried in a forest at the edge of the city, which recently came under the control of Ukraine after Russian forces retreated, according to BBC.
Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them.
"In the 21st Century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent," said Jan Lipavsky, foreign minister of the Czech Republic which holds the EU's rotating presidency.
"We must not overlook it. We stand for the punishment of all war criminals," he wrote in a tweet. "I call for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression."
Fighting raged on Saturday in the divided eastern region of Donetsk, which is mostly under the control of Russian-backed separatists.
The separatist mayor of Donetsk city said four people had been killed by Ukrainian government shelling of a central district while the Donetsk region's Ukrainian governor accused Russian forces of shelling a thermal power plant in Mykolaivka, disrupting drinking water supplies in the area.
Ukrainian troops are continuing their counter-offensive in the country's north-east, after successfully recapturing territory from Russia in recent days, the UK's defence ministry says. It adds that Russia has established a defensive line protecting one of its main supply routes from Belgorod, near its border with Ukraine, BBC reported.
Government takes back Electricity Bill-2077
The government has taken back the Electricity Bill-2077, which was under consideration at the National Assembly. The government withdrew the under consideration bill in accordance with Article 112 of the Constitution and Rule-116 of the National Assembly Regulations. The proposal presented by Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation for the withdrawal of the bill in today's National Assembly meeting was passed unanimously. On the occasion, National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina announced the withdrawal of the bill from the National Assembly. The next meeting of the National Assembly will be held at 11 am on September 18.
Government recommends President Bhandari to end House session from tomorrow
The government has recommended President Bidya Devi Bhandari to end the Parliament session from Saturday. A Cabinet meeting held at the official residence of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Baluwatar on Friday decided to recommend the President to end the House session from tomorrow. Earlier, a Parliament meeting held this afternoon endorsed three ordinances.
