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The decision made by the Secretariat meeting of the party held on June 5 to reshuffle the ministers has pushed the CPN (Unified Socialist) into a grave crisis.

At a time when the differences have been exacerbating within the party, Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada among other ministers and lawmakers submitted an eight-point attention letter to Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal on Friday.

Along with Khatiwada, Urban Development Minister Ram Kumari Jhankri, Tourism Minister Prem Ale, Labour Minister Krishna Kumar Shrestha, lawmakers Krishna Lal Maharjan, Gopal Bahadur Bam, Bina Budhathoki, Niru Devi Jairu, Dhan Bahadur Budha and Pushpa Kumari Karna Kayastha signed the letter.

They have demanded that the party call the Parliamentary Party meeting at the earliest.

In the letter, they expressed their dissatisfaction saying that the list of the proposed new ministers is non-inclusive. They even said that the party treated them like criminals.

The Unified Socialist had appointed five ministers on October 8 for six months. But, a dispute has surfaced in the party even though a proposal to reshuffle the ministers was submitted to the Prime Minister after eight months.

Home Minister Balkrishna Khand has seen off the Haj pilgrims who are leaving for Mecca Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Home Minister Khand reached Tribhuvan International Airport this morning and bade farewell to 113 pilgrims.

The government had allocated seats to 555 persons for Haj pilgrimage this year. While seeing off the pilgrims, Minister Khand said that the government treats and respects all religions equally.

The tradition of Haj pilgrimage has made Nepal known to the world, which the Minister believed would foster fraternity.

General Secretary of Nepali Congress Mahendra Yadav and Chairperson of Nepal Haj Committee, Shumsher Minya had also reached the airport to bid farewell.

Sri Lanka's economy has "completely collapsed," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Wednesday, as the crisis-hit nation faces an increasingly dire situation that has left millions struggling with fuel, electricity and food shortages, CNN reported.

"Our economy has faced a complete collapse," Wickremesinghe told Sri Lanka's Parliament, adding the government was seeking help from its global partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize the economy. 

But Wickremesinghe warned the island nation of 22 million was "facing a far more serious situation" beyond the shortages.

crisis in seven decades, after its foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record lows, with dollars running out to pay for essential imports including food, medicine and fuel.

In recent weeks, the government has taken drastic measures to cope with the crisis, including implementing a four-day work week for public sector workers to allow them time to grow their own crops. However, the measures are doing little to ease the struggles faced by many in the country. 

In several major cities, including the commercial capital, Colombo, hundreds continue to queue for hours to buy fuel, sometimes clashing with police and the military as they wait. 

Trains have reduced in frequency, forcing travelers to squeeze into compartments and even sit precariously on top of them as they commute to work. 

Patients are unable to travel to hospitals due to the fuel shortage and food prices are soaring. Rice, a staple in the South Asian nation, has disappeared from shelves in many shops and supermarkets, according to CNN.

This week alone, 11 people have died waiting in queues for fuel, according to police officials. 

Wickremesinghe, who took office days after violent protests forced his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign, appeared to place the blame on the previous government for the country's situation in his comments Wednesday. 

"It is no easy task to revive a country with a completely collapsed economy, especially one that is dangerously low on foreign reserves," he said. "If steps had at least been taken to slow down the collapse of the economy at the beginning, we would not be facing this difficult situation today." 

Last week, Sri Lanka's power and energy minister told reporters the country had only enough fuel stock to last five days.

Sri Lanka has mainly been relying on neighboring India to remain afloat -- it has received $4 billion in credit lines -- but Wickremesinghe said that too might not be enough.

"We have requested more loan assistance from our Indian counterparts. But even India will not be able to continuously support us in this manner," he said, CNN reported.

The next step, he said, was to strike a deal with the IMF.

China commends the Nepal government's decision not to move ahead on the State Partnership Program (SPP) with the United States, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, Xinhua reported.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on the issue.

Wang said that the program had been widely controversial in Nepal, as various political parties and factions, the government, the army and people across the Nepali society see the SPP as a military and security initiative closely linked to the Indo-Pacific Strategy. They consider it against the national interests of Nepal and its long-held non-aligned, balanced foreign policy to be part of the SPP, according to Xinhua.

"As Nepal's friendly and close neighbor and strategic cooperative partner, China commends the Nepal government's decision," Wang said, adding that China will continue to support Nepal in upholding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and support Nepal's commitment to its independent and non-aligned foreign policy.

"China stands ready to work with Nepal to jointly safeguard regional security, stability and shared prosperity," said the spokesperson, according to Xinhua.