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The 73^rd National Democracy Day is being marked by organizing various programs across the country on Sunday. A special program was held at the Army Pavilion, in Tundikhel, this morning. President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Chief of Army Staff Parshuram Sharma among high ranking officials of the government attended the program. Every year, Falgun 7 of the Nepali calendar is observed as the National Democracy Day. In 2007 BS, on this day, democracy was established in the country ending the Rana regime.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting at the former’s official residence in Baluwatar on Thursday. Earlier on December 25, an agreement was reached to give the Prime Minister to the CPN (Maoist Center) and the President to the CPN-UML. Prime Minister Dahal changed his words immediately after he won the vote of confidence. The Maoist Center, in recent times, however has been saying that the President should be chosen by national consensus. The UML leaders have been saying the party’s candidate should be made the President. Oli has been reiterating that they will not leave the post of President to other parties. As the presidential election is approaching nearer, leaders have intensified the discussions. Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Dahal held separate meetings with Congress Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka and Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane. PM Dahal has inclined to the Nepali Congress after he won the trust vote        

Nepali Congress lawmaker Chandra Bhandari’s mother Hari kala Bhandari, who was critically injured in the cooking gas (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder explosion on Wednesday, died during the course of treatment at the Kirtipur Hospital on Thursday. Executive Director of the hospital Dr Nijina Tamrakar confirmed the death of Hari Kala Bhandari. Congress leader Bhandari is undergoing treatment at the same hospital. Preparations are underway to take him to India for further treatment. Bhandari and his mother were injured when a cooking gas cylinder exploded while cooking food at the Buddhanagar-based house last night.  

Germany has handed over more than 1.5 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's bivalent COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal through the COVAX Facility. Ambassador of Germany to Nepal Dr Thomas Prinz, handed over the vaccines to Minister for Health and Population Padam Giri at the Ministry earlier today in the presence of UNICEF Representative to Nepal Elke Wisch and WHO Representative to Nepal Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, read a statement issued by the Embassy of Germany. “From the beginning of this pandemic Germany has supported the people of Nepal and has advocated for multilateral solutions like COVAX and ACT-Accelerator. Vaccines are the key in the fight against this pandemic and I am delighted to hand over today vaccines that were invented in Germany. With this delivery the German support reaches more than 5.6 million Doses,” said Ambassador Dr Prinz. “Nepal is one of the top 10 countries worldwide to receive vaccine support from Germany.” Although the number of COVID-19 infections in Nepal is relatively low at present, experts remain concerned about potential new surges in the days to come, the statement read. So far, over 82 per cent of the total population has been vaccinated, with 9,083,976 having received booster shots (Until Feb 7 2023). “In light of rising COVID-19 infections in different countries around the world, we are keen to continue administering booster shots and expand protection to more people across Nepal,” said Minister for Health and Population Padam Giri. “This generous assistance from Germany comes at a crucial time to support our vaccination efforts.” Germany was one of the founding members of the Country Coordinating Mechanism Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) in April 2020 and remains its second-largest donor, with contributions totalling 3.3 billion euro so far. Germany has donated and delivered approximately 120 million doses since the start of the pandemic – the majority of them through COVAX. The COVAX Facility is part of the ACT-Accelerator, and brings together several key partners such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO and UNICEF to ensure efficient and equitable global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines. UNICEF Representative to Nepal Elke Wisch thanked the Government and people of Germany for contributing these life-saving vaccines to Nepal. ”Germany has been a generous partner in not just ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines but also in supporting Nepal to procure cold-chain equipment to ensure safe delivery of these doses to communities,” Wisch said, the statement further read. “On behalf of the COVAX facility, we thank the Government of Germany for providing this boost to the country’s ongoing vaccination drive.”