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Wrapping up his three-day official visit to India, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned home on Sunday.

Before returning home, Prime Minister Deuba along with his spouse Arzu Rana, and others visited Varanasi.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed him at the Lal Bahadur International Airport this morning.

During this visit to India, Prime Minister Deuba visited the headquarters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday. He held a meeting with BJP President JP Nadda there.

Later, he held a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He attended a dinner hosted by the Nepali Embassy in India the same day.

During the second day of the visit, he held a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday. He along with his Indian counterpart Modi jointly inaugurated the Janakpur-Jayanagar rail service.

On the occasion, Nepal and India inked four-point agreements.

During a joint press conference, Prime Minister Deuba proposed Modi to resolve the border issues at the earliest.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayak Khadka has said that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s visit to India has become successful.

During a press conference organized at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Sunday, the foreign minister claimed that PM Deuba’s visit was successful in taking Nepal’s relations with India to a new height.

 “This visit discussed issues of mutual interests. This is a big achievement,” Minister Khadka said. 

He made it clear that Prime Minister Deuba held a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party President JP Nadda as the President of the Nepali Congress, not as the prime minister. 

During the meeting, the duo discussed cementing the relationship between Nepali Congress and the BJP.

Prime Minister Deuba was criticized for visiting the BJP headquarters, saying it was against diplomatic dignity.

Similarly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was criticized for not keeping Nepali representatives behind Prime Minister Deuba during this meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. 

Responding to journalists' queries, why Nepal and India issued separate press statements even though there is a tradition to issue a joint statement when there is a bilateral agreement between the two countries, Minister Khadka said that separate press statements were issued as per the advice of both sides. 

Likewise, he said that the prime minister floated a proposal to resolve the border issue through diplomatic channels. 

During a bilateral meeting held at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday, Nepal and India signed four agreements. 

Nepal reported 23 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 5, 847 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 23 returned positive. 

The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 66 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 899 active cases in the country.

Among them, 858 are in home isolation and 41 are in institutionalized isolation. 

Of the infected people, 15 are in Intensive Care Units while two are on ventilators.

Nepali Congress central member Dr Shekhar Koirala has pointed out that the country has faced irrelevant expenditures in the name of constructing view towers.

Rather budget spent in the construction of the view towers should have been invested in the construction of hospitals and schools, he said while inaugurating the Simaltar Water Supply Project at Bandipur Rural Municipality-2 in Tanahun district today.

"We said we lack money for development activities. However, we are spending money unnecessarily in building view towers. We are building welcome gates in Madhes roads. Such activities should be stopped."

He asked NC leaders and cadres to pledge to rather invest money spent in the construction of view towers in the construction of hospitals and schools. It would help the NC, he said.

In another context, the NC leader committed to the agreement of continuing the existing coalition until the May 13 local election. But there is not a clarity on how to move ahead with the alliance in the poll, he said.

The lift water project that cost over Rs 15 million is expected to provide water to 225 households at Simaltar, Dharapani, Chamundathan and Thumki. RSS

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 30. 89 points to close at 2,513.41 points on Sunday.

Similarly, the sensitive dropped by 6.44 points to close at 469. 03 points.

A total of 3,253,816 units of the shares of 225 companies were traded for Rs 1.46 billion.

Meanwhile, Rastra Utthan Laghubitta Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10 percent. 

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3.56 trillion.

A police constable was found hanging in Biratnagar on Sunday.

DSP Deepak Shrestha, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Morang, Jit Bikram Dahal (26) of Biranagar Metropolitan City-5 was found hanging in a tree near his house this morning. 

Dahal, who was stationed at the Sukrabare Police Post in Sunsari, was accused of attempting to rape a woman. Sunsari police had filed a rape case against him.

Dahal has been living in his house in Biratnagar after he was released on bail from the court. 

Police said that they are looking into the case. 

In a surprise move, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday that he has advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly and call for fresh elections, minutes after the deputy speaker rejected a no-confidence motion against the embattled leader, The Times of India reported.

Prime Minister Khan, who had effectively lost majority in the 342-member National Assembly, made a brief address to the nation after a stormy parliament session was adjourned by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.

Khan congratulated the nation for the no-trust motion being dismissed, saying the deputy speaker had "rejected the attempt of changing the regime [and] the foreign conspiracy".

"The nation should prepare for the new elections," he said, adding that the no-confidence was actually a "foreign agenda".

Khan said he has advised President Alvi to dissolve assemblies.

"Prepare for elections. No corrupt forces will decide what the future of the country will be. When the assemblies will be dissolved, the procedure for the next elections and the caretaker government will begin," the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician said.

Earlier, Deputy Speaker Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against Prime Minister Khan, terming it against the Constitution and rules of Pakistan.

"The no-confidence should be according to the Constitution of and rules of the country. Since it is not as pointed out by the Law Minister, so I reject the no-confidence motion," Suri ruled, amid vociferous protest by Opposition lawmakers, according to The Times of India.

Suri chaired the crucial session after Opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker  Asad Qaiser.

Domestic and international flights at Tribhuvan International Airport have been affected due to low visibility caused by bad weather condition since a week, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal at the TIA.

Thirty one domestic flights have been affected since today morning due to bad weather, said the TIA spokesperson Teknath Sitaula.

Flights would resume smoothly and regularly once the weather is clear, he said. Many domestic and international flights were affected due to low visibility on Saturday as well. RSS