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President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered oath of office and secrecy to two Nepali ambassadors at a special ceremony organized at the Office of the President in Shital Niwas on Monday. The Head-of-State administered the oath to Nepal's ambassador to Myanmar, Harish Chandra Ghimire and ambassador to Malaysia, Dilli Raj Poudel, the Office of the President stated. Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka and high government officials were present on the occasion.  

Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, arrived on a four-day official visit to Kathmandu on Monday. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota welcomed Li who arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport this afternoon. A team led by the Chinese speaker will directly head towards Hotel Soaltee. The Chinese Embassy has booked the hotel for them for four days. They are scheduled to come to the Baneshwor-based Parliament building after resting for some time at the hotel where Sapkota and Li will hold a meeting. During the meeting, the duo will sign a bilateral agreement, it has been learnt. Leader Li will pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka on Tuesday. He is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday.

Citizens in the Bagmati Province will be provided blood transfusion services free of cost.  The Province Government has launched the service, as per the Blood Transfusion Service Operation and Management Working Procedure, targeting those people who can't afford it. Blood transfusion is medically one of the most essential services. The District Health Office, Chitwan has reached an agreement with the Regional Blood Transfusion Center, Bharatpur for making the free service available in the district. Office Chief Durga Dutta Chapagain and Nepal Red Cross Society provincial blood transfusion center president Gyanshali Neupane signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides in the presence of representatives from three hospitals in the district. The Office Chief said that patients receiving treatment at Bharatpur Hospital, BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital and Bakulahar Ratnagar Hospital will be entitled to the free service. A patient meeting the criteria for free service will get 10 units of blood in a year. Besides, a dialysis patient and the one who needs frequent blood transfusions will get an additional 10 units of blood. The patient shall present documents to confirm s/he is the Province citizen, stating that paid service is unaffordable for her/ him.  In case of emergency cases, geography will not be a matter to get the service. The office has allocated a budget for the free distribution of 3,800 units of blood in a year.  The center takes Rs 850 as the service charge. There is a demand for around 150 units of blood in the district each day. The supply is not sufficient to meet the demand and it is adjusted by obtaining blood from neighboring districts, Kathmandu and Pokhara, The service is expected to be directly beneficial for patients from indigent community. Blood transfusion is highly required in accident cases, cancer and delivery cases.

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and Minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs Govinda Sharma (Koirala) held a meeting with CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday. During the meeting held at Khumaltar, the trio discussed contemporary political issues. Home Minister Khand said that they discussed parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for November 20 and various ordinances pending in the House of Representatives and National Assembly. The tenure of the House of Representatives is ending on September 17. The five-party alliance has not been able to reach an agreement on seat sharing yet. Senior leaders are holding discussions on the report submitted by the task force.