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Newly appointed Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava paid a courtesy call on Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal on Wednesday.

During the meeting that took place at the Ministry in Singha Durbar today, they discussed the topics of bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and India.

On the occasion, Minister Bhusal said that the Nepal-India ties were moving forward on the basis of friendship, equality, cooperation and mutual respect. She expressed the confidence that this relation will become stronger in the days to come.

Stating that important works have been carried out in the energy sector between Nepal and India in recent times, the Energy Minister hoped that this collaboration between the two nations will be further expanded in the days ahead.

“The energy trade taking place between Nepal and India at present is positive. India needs the clean energy from Nepal. So, in this context Nepal is willing to move ahead by signing a long-term electricity trade agreement in coming days. I have the conviction that important success would be achieved in power trade sector during your term in office,” Minister Bhusal said.

She stressed on the need of taking ahead the Pancheshwor Hydroelectricity Project as well as of actively implementing the understanding reached between the two countries regarding the damage caused by flood.

Ambassador Srivastava on the occasion gave assurances that he would make whatever initiatives he can for further expanding the collaboration and partnership between the two countries. Noting that significant achievement has been made in the electricity trade sector in the last one year, he said the collaboration of both the governments is worth appreciating in this.

“Power trade is beneficial to both countries. There would be consistent support from our side on this,” the Indian Ambassador said, giving assurances of making relentless efforts for electricity production and trade.

Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary Sagar Kumar Rai, Joint Secretary duo Baburam Bhandari and Chiranjivi Chataut and the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present in the meeting.

CPN-UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai said that his party’s bottomline is that either Finance Minister Janardan resign himself or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba remove him from the post.

Talking to journalists at the Parliament building in New Baneshwor on Wednesday, he said that Sharma committed the crime against the country by involving two unauthorised persons to tweak taxes a day before the budget was presented. That is why, Minister Sharma cannot remain in the post, he said.

Bhattarai said that Sharma made the government documents disappear and deleted the CCTV footage with ill intention.

He said that they have demanded a parliamentary committee to probe into the incident.

Leader Bhattarai further said that action should also be taken against other people of the Finance Ministry who deleted the CCTV footage.

The Central Committee meeting of the CPN (Maoist Centre) scheduled for today has been postponed till tomorrow.

According to Ganga Dahal, personal secretary of the party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the meeting has been postponed till 11 am tomorrow.

The meeting became uncertain after the ruling and the opposition parties demanded resignation of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma.

Leaders inside the party have been demanding investigation after the Finance Minister took one after another controversial step.

The Nepali Congress leaders have also been demanding the resignation of Finance Minister Sharma who has been embroiled in a series of controversies.

Party Chairman Dahal presented the agenda and political report in the meeting that started from Sunday.

Sharma is accused of inviting two unauthorized persons to change tax rates on the eve of the budget presentation for the next fiscal year 2022-23.

Sri Lanka is "bankrupt," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Tuesday, as the country suffers its worst financial crisis in decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine and fuel, CNN reported.

Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country's "collapsed" economy are "difficult," because the South Asian nation of 22 million has entered the talks as a bankrupt country, rather than a developing one. 

"We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations," Wickremesinghe said in parliament.

"Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately," he added. "Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level. This is not a straightforward process."

Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst financial 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.

Schools have been suspended and fuel has been limited to essential services. 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.

On Sunday Sri Lanka's energy minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, said the country had less than a day's worth of fuel left.

"In terms of fuel and food, our country was going to have to face this crisis at some point in time. Fuel was scarce. Food prices went up," he said, adding international crises like Russia's war in Ukraine have made things worse, according to CNN.

"Due to the recent global crises, this situation has become more acute and we who were in the frying pan fell into the oven," Wijesekera said. 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he hoped that a report on debt restructuring and sustainability would be submitted to the IMF by August. Once there is an agreement, a comprehensive loan assistance program would be prepared for a period of four years, Wickremesinghe said.

His speech in parliament was interrupted by opposition lawmakers chanting cries of "Gota go Home" -- a reference to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was in attendance. 

For months, large numbers of Sri Lankans have been calling for Rajapaksa to resign over accusations of economic mismanagement. 

Wickremesinghe said that by the end of this year, inflation will rise to 60%.

"This will be a difficult and bitter journey," Wickremesinghe said. "But we can get relief at the end of this journey. Progress can be made." 

The British government said on Tuesday it is now advising against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka due to the impact of the economic crisis, CNN reported.