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The Secretariat meeting of the Rastriya Swatantra Party has begun at the party’s central office in Banasthali on Sunday. 

The meeting will dwelt on issues related to the party adjustment and election process, party spokesperson Manish Jha said. 

This is the first Secretariat meeting after party President Rabi Lamichhane returned to his post.

Former Home Minister Lamichhane was released on bail on December 19 in connection with the Supreme Cooperative fraud and organized crime case.

Normal life has been affected due to cold wave and fog in Sunsari and Morang. 

Traffic police have urged people to be careful, saying that the risk of accidents has increased due to the cold wave and thick fog.

Koshi Province Traffic Police Office, Itahari, Chief SP Deepak Giri has urged people to drive cautiously by turning on their headlights as it will be difficult to see the road due to the cold wave and thick fog.

Normal life has also been affected in Itahari, Tharara, Inaruwa, Duhabi, Jhumka, Khanar and other places in Sunsari.

Flights scheduled for Sunday have also been affected after Biratnagar Airport was covered in thick fog.

Ratuwamai, Sundarharaincha, Budhiganga and Rangeli areas in Morang are at risk of cold wave.

Firewood has been distributed to the poor settlements in Ratuwamai Municipality-7 of Morang after the extreme cold.

At the initiative of the ward office, firewood has been distributed to various settlements, squares and market areas within the ward with the support of the Pathari Shanishchare Partnership Forest Group.

Ward Chairperson Ram Bahadur Karki informed that firewood was distributed with the aim of keeping the poor, senior citizens and children warm.

He said that arrangements have been made to light fires collectively in 15 public places within the ward to warm themselves and avoid the cold.

As Nepal debates the future of its electoral system, the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) has once again come into focus following recent political developments and renewed policy advocacy. Former chief election commissioner Neil Kantha Uprety said shifting the scheduled election date from March 5 could increase the likelihood of adopting EVMs, as it would allow more time for voter awareness and preparation.

“If we are able to shift the election date, then I don’t see any harm,” Uprety said. “The chances of using electronic voting machines would increase, and there would be time to make people aware of how they are used.”

EVMs are a digital method of voting intended to replace traditional paper ballots. However, their recent use during the CPN-UML convention on Dec 17 exposed several challenges. Despite expectations that electronic voting would be faster, the process was delayed due to technical glitches and voter confusion, largely caused by the large number of candidates.

Polling began at 9:20 am, but only 532 delegates managed to cast their votes during the first five hours, according to the party’s Election Commission. Although 80 electronic voting machines were deployed, voting remained sluggish. Delegates reportedly took anywhere from nine minutes to more than two hours to complete the process.

“We had expected a voter to take 25 to 30 minutes on average, but in reality it took between nine minutes and two hours and 12 minutes for some,” said Election Commission Vice-chairperson Sanuraja Pokharel.

Ram Prasad Rimal, founder of the Ramlaxman Group and the pioneer of EVM development in Nepal, attributed the delays to planning and awareness gaps.

“The process was slow because we were given a fewer number of machines than required, as the number of voters turned out to be higher than expected,” Rimal said. “Another major reason was that voters were not properly informed about how to use the machines. Awareness was not provided on time. People therefore felt the system was difficult, even though it is not.”

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel said at a public program that electronic voting could be implemented in the upcoming general elections. Emphasizing the need to modernize Nepal’s electoral system, Kharel argued that electronic voting could be introduced at a relatively low cost. He said it was unfortunate that, even in the era of information technology, billions of rupees continue to be spent on printing paper ballots and transporting them securely over several days.

However, Kul Bahadur GC, information officer and assistant spokesperson of the Election Commission, said there is no official communication from the ministry regarding the use of EVMs in the upcoming election. “As per the information we have, the election will be conducted using paper ballots,” he said.

Nepal has experimented with EVMs before. During the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections, EVMs were piloted in Morang, Dhanusha, Kaski, Rolpa, and Kanchanpur. Observers noted that the pilot was successful, signalling potential for future use.

Despite this early experience, Nepal has continued to rely on traditional paper ballots in major elections, printing and manually counting millions of ballots, often resulting in slow vote counts and administrative challenges. Political parties remain divided on electronic voting, with some skeptical of technology and others wary of losing control over traditional vote-counting processes.

Uprety said the EVMs used in 2008 were functional and helped build public trust but could not be sustained. Imported from India, the machines had limitations, including low power capacity and limited features. In contrast, he said, today’s EVMs are far more powerful and interactive.

According to Uprety, the use of EVMs would significantly reduce invalid votes and cut election costs by nearly 50 percent compared to paper ballots. He argued that technology has advanced rapidly and Nepal must adopt it or risk falling behind.

He acknowledged that limited time remains to introduce EVMs for the upcoming election, making their use unlikely this time. However, he stressed that efforts should continue and suggested postponing election dates if possible to allow better preparation. To raise public awareness, he recommended the use of social media videos and other digital platforms.

Rimal said EVMs are extremely easy to use and have already been successfully tested by the Nepal Blind People Federation and the National Disability Federation. Since people with visual and physical impairments were able to use the machines without difficulty, he argued that they would be even easier for the general public.

He said building one machine costs around Rs 200,000, with costs likely to decrease if the government took ownership of production. Each machine has a lifespan of about 20 years. To conduct elections across 70 constituencies, around 22,000 machines would be required. However, he acknowledged that using EVMs in the upcoming election is highly unlikely, as designing and manufacturing them would take at least six months.

Rimal said proposals have already been submitted to relevant ministries, informing them of the time required for EVM implementation, but no clear timeline or response has been received. He added that EVMs would virtually eliminate invalid votes.

The machines function much like smartphones, providing voice instructions in Nepali and guiding voters step by step, alerting them to any errors. 

Uprety said inter-regional voting is technically possible but not feasible at present, as voters are unlikely to spend an entire day and significant money just to cast a vote. Remote voting, he argued, would allow voters to participate from their current locations and increase satisfaction.

He added that EVMs are reusable and cost-effective, whereas paper ballots are expensive and single-use. Public distrust of EVMs remains a major challenge, he said, noting the irony that people trust many technological systems in daily life but hesitate to trust voting machines.

Rimal said the machines are “100 percent trustworthy” and cannot be manipulated. “There is no internet connection, so there is no chance of hacking,” he said. Both Rimal and Uprety agreed that manipulation is easier with paper ballots, whereas EVMs make adding or subtracting votes far more difficult.

Push for overseas voting grows

Policy advocacy groups are pushing for broader reforms, particularly to enable voting for Nepalis living abroad. Drawing lessons from countries such as Mexico (2024) and the Philippines (2025), the Nepal Policy Institute (NPI) has recommended a hybrid voting model combining embassy-based voting, postal voting, internet-based i-Voting, and multi-day in-country voting for returning overseas voters.

According to the NPI policy brief, while internet voting represents the most sustainable long-term option, a hybrid approach is the most realistic way to ensure maximum participation in the fast-approaching 2026 elections.

The brief stresses the need for independent cybersecurity audits and strong public communication campaigns to build voter trust. It cites international data showing that during the Philippines’ 2025 elections, 98 percent of overseas registrants preferred i-Voting, while 85 percent of technology-assisted votes in Mexico’s 2024 elections were cast online.

The report also recommends a communication strategy using both social and traditional media to inform voters about registration, voting options, and safeguards. It clarifies a distinction often misunderstood by the public: e-Voting refers to electronic voting machines at polling stations, while i-Voting allows voters to cast ballots securely online from any location. As the brief notes, “i-Voting is a distinct and more inclusive innovation that has already been implemented in more than 30 countries worldwide.” More than 115 countries have provisions for external voting.

The push for overseas voting is not new. In 2018, the Supreme Court directed the government and the Election Commission to guarantee voting rights for Nepalis living abroad. A joint bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Purushottam Bhandari ordered the state to make legal, logistical, and technological arrangements.

Despite the directive, the order remains unimplemented. According to the 2021 census, nearly 2.2m Nepalis live abroad, many of whom remain unable to exercise their voting rights. As Nepal moves closer to the 2026 polls, debates over EVMs, internet voting, and electoral reform continue, with authorities under growing pressure to balance technological innovation, voter trust, and constitutional obligations.

The habitat of the black pangolin, which is on the critically endangered list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has been found in Khotang. 

The Nature Conservation and Study Center (NCSC), in collaboration with local community forest users' committees, confirmed the presence of the black scaly anteaters in the community forests of two local levels in Khotang through about six months of camera trapping. 

The habitat of the animal has been confirmed through camera trapping in various community forests of Jalpa and Kharmi in Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality and in Haunchur of Rawa Bensi Rural Municipality. 

According to the Nature Conservation and Study Center, 16 species of mammalian wildlife have been recorded living in the community forests of these three wards.

Videos and photographs of one critically endangered species, three vulnerable species, two species near threatened, and 10 least concerned species of mammals have been captured. Among them, the discovery of the black pangolin has been regarded as a significant achievement, according to Jeevan Rai, Executive Director of the Nature Conservation and Study Centre (NCSC).

It has been reported that a program was conducted to enhance the capacity of communities involved in community forests to carry out camera trapping themselves for monitoring and conserving the biodiversity and wildlife in their areas. 

Thirteen camera traps were set up in various community forests in Jalpa-12, Kharmi-11 of Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality and Haunchur-6 of Rawabensi Rural Municipality.