Chief Justice Rana under house arrest, says Oli
CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has claimed that the government has placed suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana under house arrest. Speaking to mediapersons after the Secretariat meeting of the party on Sunday, he commented about the government’s behavior on Rana. “Keeping the suspended Chief Justice under house arrest is a blow to democracy,” Oli said. He said that his party would condemn the role played by the government in the chief justice impeachment case. “The government should work as per the democratic norms and values. It should follow the principle of separation of powers,” he said. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to respect the rights to privacy and personal freedom of Chief Justice Rana. The Commission said that such rights should not be curtailed under any circumstances, read a statement issued by the rights watchdog spokesperson Tikaram Pokharel.
Nijgadh will be appropriate the place for construction of international airport: Experts
The expert group formed by the government to study the prospect of the Nijgadh International Airport handed over the study report to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday. Expert group coordinator Birendra Bahadur Deuja submitted the report to Prime Minister Deuba in the presence of Tourism Minister Jeevan Ram Shrestha amidst a program organized at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar this afternoon. Receiving the report, Prime Minister Deuba said that construction of the airport should be started at the earliest. He thanked the expert group for handing over the report within the given time frame. Minister Shrestha said that the works proceed as per the report of the experts group. Coordinator Deuja said that Nijgadh will be the appropriate place to construct an international airport with full capacity to handle the growing air traffic. According to the report, 4,000 hectares within an area of around 9,000 hectares between the Pasaha River and the Bakia River connected to the Kathmandu-Terai Expressway (Fast Track) and the East-West Highway will be the suitable place to construct an international airport.
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.
