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The Nepali Congress has decided to vote in favor of Janata Samajbadi Party’s Ram Sahaya Yadav in the vice-presidential election. The Central Execution Committee of the Nepali Congress held on Wednesday decided to support Yadav in the vice-presidential election, party spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said. According to him, the meeting has decided to direct the party lawmakers to vote in favor of Yadav. The meeting also congratulated President Ram Chandra Paudel.  

The Election Commission has made public the sample ballot papers for the vice-presidential election. The Commission has arranged separate ballot papers for the members of the House of Representatives and Province Assembly. Parliament and National Assembly members will get pink ballot papers while Province Assembly members will get green ballot papers. The names of all the four vice-presidential candidates along with their photographs are mentioned in the ballot papers. CPN-UML Vice-Chairperson Astha Laxmi Shakya, Janata Samajbadi Party Parliamentary Party leader Ram Sahaya Yadav, Pramila Kumari Yadav and Janamat Party’s Mamata Jha have filed their nominations for the election. Pramila Yadav has announced to withdraw her candidacy saying that she would support Ram Sahaya Yadav in the vice-presidential election. Her name and photograph, however, were also printed in the ballot paper as she did not withdraw her candidacy within the stipulated time. Yadav has the support of five parties including ruling coalition parties—Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist) among other parties while Jha has the support of Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party. Shakya has the support of only UML. The election has been scheduled for March 17. Federal Parliament and Province Assembly members are the voters in the election.      

Province chiefs called on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the latter’s official residence in Baluwatar on Wednesday. During the meeting, they discussed various issues including the problems the provincial chiefs office have been facing, a Baluwatar source said. The Prime Minister said that he would take an initiative to resolve the problems. According to a provision of the Constitution of Nepal, each province should have a provincial head as the representative of the federal government.  

Premier Li Qiang said on Monday he has full confidence in China's economic prospects, as he took questions from the media after the conclusion of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, China Daily reported. Responding to how to achieve an annual economic growth target of around 5 percent in 2023, Li said the country will introduce a number of policy combinations in terms of macro policies, measures for expanding demand, policies for advancing reform and innovation and policies for preventing and defusing risks. He said the global economic prospect is not optimistic this year with many factors of instability and uncertainty as well as unpredictable factors. China also faces quite a number of new challenges to achieve the around 5 percent growth target on a high base in the previous year, which is not an easy task and requires redoubled efforts, according to Li. When it comes to the drivers and drags on the Chinese economy, Li said China's economic development is supported by quite a number of favorable conditions, including an ultra-large market, a well-functioning industrial system, a rich supply of human resources, a strong development foundation and notable institutional strength, according to China Daily. Citing China's economic performance in the first two months of 2023, Li said the Chinese economy is stabilizing and picking up, and some international organizations have also upgraded their forecasts for China's growth prospects this year. Despite the challenges ahead, Li said he has full confidence in China's growth prospects in 2023.