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SP Raju Pandey of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City was injured following a clash between squatters and police personnel in Thapathali on Monday. The clash broke out after the KMC police personnel tried to remove the people living along the bank of Bagmati river in Thapathali. The squatters are chanting slogans against the government and KMC Mayor Balen Shah at present. Some are also seen carrying sticks and home-made weapons. The KMC sent a dozer in Thapathali this afternoon as part of the government’s preparations to remove them from the area. Earlier, Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh had assured them that they will not be removed from the area without finding any alternative. But, the KMC in coordination with the Bagmati River Basin Development Project Committee had decided to use the dozer in the area before the implementation of Singh’s assurance.

Renowned street artist Alejandro Poli Jr. (“Man One”) from Los Angeles, California, has arrived in Kathmandu to take part in a twelve-day program to promote and celebrate the voices of minority and socially excluded communities. In collaboration with Nepali art collective, Artudio, Man One will collaborate with local artist in Kathmandu and Janakpur and organize a street art project to showcase Nepal’s vibrant multicultural society through art. A group of Nepali muralists, graffiti artists, folk, traditional artists, and creative practitioners, will participate in a live art showcase November 28. Nepali artists will jointly work on a final mural design with Man One that captures visions for minority inclusion. A final large-scale mural will be revealed December 9. During the art envoy’s stay, Man One will also conduct interactive lectures on the themes of social inclusion and equity and share both their own work and the history of graffiti as “protest art.”

The Bibaha Panchami festival is being celebrated across the country today by worshiping and paying homage to Shree Ramchandra and Sita. The festival bearing religious and cultural significance is observed on the fifth day of Shukla paksha (the waxing phase of the moon) in Marga month according to the lunar calendar. It commemorates the wedding of Hindu God Ram and Goddess Sita that took place in the Tretayug. The Bibaha Panchami is celebrated with gaiety and religious fervor especially in the historic city of Janakpur today, with thousands of devotees offering prayers at the famous Janaki temple since early morning. As per the Hindu mythology, King Janak of Mithila, Sita’s father, proposed a test of strength for the suitors of his daughter: to lift the great bow of Lord Shiva. Warriors, kin and chieftains came from afar, but no man could lift the bow. Ram, a prince from ancient Ayodhya, lifted the bow with ease and when he tried to string it, the bow shattered into pieces. Ram and Sita were married in Janakpur, the capital city of the ancient Mithila kingdom, and their marriage is celebrated to this day. Each year, idols of Ram and Sita are brought out in procession and their Hindu wedding ceremony is reenacted during a weeklong religious festival. As per Mithila culture, various events such as matkor, tilakostsab and swayambar are held in addition to the marriage ceremony.

Three children died and three others were injured when a fire broke out at the Islam Cloth Store in Maisthan Chowk of Gaur, Rautahat on Wednesday night. The deceased have been identified as Islam Miya’s five-year-old daughter Sabina Khatun, nine-year-old daughter Ruksana Khatun and nine-year-old son Imran Mansuri, the District Police Office, Rautahat said. Police identified the injured as Muhammad Israyel Mansuri, Muhammad Imran and Nasima Khatun. They are undergoing treatment at the Gaur Hospital. The cause behind the fire was an electric short circuit, police said. The flame was taken under control with the help of Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police personnel. Police said that they are looking into the case.