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Following differences between party Chairman Upendra Yadav and Federal Council Chairman Baburam Bhattarai, the Janata Samajbadi Party has split.

During a meeting held between the two leaders that lasted for two hours on Wednesday, Bhattarai has decided to form a new party in consensus, a source said.

Earlier on Monday night, the Yadav faction held a party’s central executive committee and decided to recall all the ministers representing the party in the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government. The leaders of the Bhattarai faction, however, were not invited to the meeting.

The meeting had also decided to give rights to Yadav to select the new ministers.

Out of the 33 members in the central executive committee, Yadav has a majority with 22 members. The party has 19 lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

The Supreme Court has made public the full text of the verdict it had announced earlier over a case involving the proposed construction of Nijgadh International Airport on Wednesday.

A full bench of Justices Harikrishna Karki, Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Prakash Man Singh Raut and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma has given different views in the full text of the verdict.

Judges Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Prakash Man Singh Raut have ruled that the airport should not be built at the site, while Justices Harikrishna Karki and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma have said that though the airport could not be built at the designated place an environmental evaluation could be carried out for an alternative.

In the opinion of the three judges, the work of construction of the airport has been annulled by a certiorari order as the government’s work on the airport in Nijgadh of Bara district so far was found to be flawed. “We should not ignore or underestimate the importance of protecting the environment while carrying such large construction,” reads the full text.

Although it is natural to have some environmental damage during development works, it is mentioned that adequate alternative measures should be taken to minimize such damage as much as possible.

Similarly, in the full text of the decision, it is stated that the airport could be constructed at an alternative place by carrying out the environmental impact assessment of the site objectively and logically with regard to the suitability of airport construction in accordance with the due legal procedures. The construction of the airport should be carried in a location that is technically suitable and with minimal environmental damage.

In the opinion of Justices Harikrishna Karki and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, the Nijgadh International Airport could be constructed in government-owned vacant land by adding private land adjacent to the proposed construction site south of Nijgadh in Bara district or elsewhere.

If it is not found suitable for the construction of the airport due to technical or other reasons, the proposed area should be re-assessed as per the law and the environmental impact assessment should be done.

Similarly, the full text says that forest area should not be used for the establishment and expansion of the proposed airport city during the construction of the airport.

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya has said the Election Commission (EC) was holding preparations for the polls as its responsibility to conduct the Federal and Province Assembly elections by mid-December.

Marking the beginning of the central-level review of the recently held local level election here today, Thapaliya said it was EC's responsibility to conduct the polls but decision on the election date is yet to take.

Stating that fencing the vote counting sites was a compulsion and was done citing insecurity in the local level polls, the Chief Commissioner said, however, it is unfortunate in a democracy.

The EC has already concluded its review meetings of the local level polls in all seven provinces.

China has welcomed the new Nepali ambassador to China.

Responding to a question during a regular press briefing, Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department Zhao Lijian said that China is looking forward to his assumption of the post at an early date.

He said that China and Nepal are connected by mountains and rivers and enjoy an ever-lasting friendship.

China is ready to work with Nepal to follow through on the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, deepen political mutual trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation and elevate the strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity to new heights, he further said.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari had appointed Bishnu Pukar Shrestha as the new ambassador to China a week ago.