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The 76th Republic Day of India was celebrated amidst a special ceremony at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava inaugurated the program by unfurling India's national flag.

During the event, the Indian ambassador conveyed his greetings to the members of the Indian diaspora in Nepal. This was followed by a telecast of the address to the nation from President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu.

A large number of members of the Indian community attended the function.

On the occasion, Ambassador Srivastava honored the widows and next of kin of deceased soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces by disbursing their dues worth Rs 5 Crore, reads a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

In addition, an amount of Rs 23.29 crore was also disbursed to the widows and next of kin of 219 deceased members of Indian Armed Forces. This payment covers benefits under the Army Group Insurance (AGI) program, including death-in-service benefits, extended insurance benefits, and AGI maturity payments in the year 2024.

The ambassador also unveiled the Bhu Puu - 2025 magazine covering the welfare initiatives of the Government of India for ex-servicemen domiciled in Nepal.

The Embassy also donated books amounting to Rs 23.5 Lakh to 29 educational institutions spread across six provinces in Nepal, according to the statement. This initiative is designed to provide educational materials to students in remote areas, responding to their specific needs and requests.

During the program, the top 50 scorers from Nepal in the Bharat Ko Janiye (BKJ) Quiz, held from November 11 to December 11, were felicitated by awarding them Certificates of Achievement.

The BKJ Quiz aims to inspire foreign nationals and the Indian community living abroad to deepen their knowledge and understanding of India. As part of the prize, the top 30 winners of the quiz from around the world were invited to India for a two-week BKJ Yatra earlier this month.

Among the winners was Nikhil Kumar Das from Nepal, who had the honor of being part of this special Yatra to India.

A video detailing the progress made in India-Nepal relations in the past years was played at the event.

The celebrations also witnessed cultural performance by students of Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre of the Embassy and Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kathmandu.

The event was live-streamed on Mission's social media platforms.

Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Devraj Ghimire, has discussed with the major ruling party Nepali Congress and CPN-UML about the bill passed by the National Assembly and sent to the House of Representatives.

Today, Speaker Ghimire invited Congress chief whip Shyam Ghimire and UML chief whip Mahesh Kumar Bartaula to his office at Singh Durbar and asked for their views on the Constitutional Council Bill and the Order of Precedence Bill that is pending in the House of Representatives.

"The Speaker has asked for opinions on the constitutional council bill passed by the National Assembly and other bills stuck in the lower house, including the bill on the order of precedence, after discussing it in the party. Today's discussion has been concluded with the agreement to meet with the Speaker again on Monday," said Congress Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire.

UML chief whip Mahesh Bartaula said that all the bills under consideration in the Parliament will be moved forward in the winter session of the Parliament. The winter session of Parliament has been called for January 31.

Chief Whip Bartaula informed that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will address the Parliament on the first day of the winter session.

Speaker Ghimire has increased his activities as the date of the winter session of Parliament approaches.

Speaker Ghimire is having a discussion with the chief whip of the major opposition party CPN (Maoist Center) and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) today itself. 

The CPN-UML called its Parliamentary Party meeting on January 28.

UML's Chief Whip in the House of Representatives (HoR), Mahesh Bartaula, informed that a meeting of the Parliamentary Party has been called at 1 pm in the Lhotse Hall of the Parliament Building, New Baneshwar on January 28 (Tuesday).

He said that the agenda of the meeting is preparations for the winter session of the Parliament starting from January 31.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said Nepal has already made advancements in terms of development works and infrastructure.

In his virtual address to the foundation stone laying ceremony of Butwal-Gorusinge road section up-gradation and today, PM Oli said the government would speed up the construction of tunnel, administrative and hospital buildings and other development works.

He also announced that the Butwal-Gorusinge road section would be expanded within the next three years.

The successful breaking of the Siddhababa tunnel way today was a great achievement, he said, stressing that the country's development should be undertaken on our own with high determination and courage.

He, however, clarified that cooperation from foreign aid agencies can also be received for such works.

Prime Minister Oli urged all to move ahead towards building the nation in unison, ignoring the forces attempting to spread division and confusion in the name of religion, caste and several other names.

Deputy Prime Ministers Prakash Man Singh and Bishnu Prasad Poudel among others had addressed the programme.