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Russia has told "unfriendly" foreign countries they must start paying for gas in roubles or it will cut supplies, BBC reported.

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating buyers "must open rouble accounts in Russian banks" from Friday.

"Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped," the Russian president said.

Mr Putin's demand is being seen as an attempt to boost the rouble, which has been hit by Western sanctions.

His decree means foreign buyers of Russian gas would have to open an account at Russia's Gazprombank and transfer euros or US dollars into it.

Gazprombank would then convert this into roubles which will then be used to make the payment for gas, according to BBC.

Though the order comes into effect for gas exported from Friday onwards, the payments for that gas will not be paid by European buyers until mid-May, Dr Jack Sharples, a research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies told the BBC.

That suggests there may not be an immediate threat to supplies.

Mr Putin said the switch to roubles was meant to strengthen Russia's sovereignty, and it would stick to its obligations on all contracts, if Western nations obliged.

Germany said the change announced by Mr Putin amounted to "blackmail".

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Western nations have issued economic and trading sanctions on Russia, but the European Union has not placed bans on oil or gas, unlike the US and Canada, as its member nations rely heavily on it.

The EU gets about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, and has no easy substitutes if supplies are disrupted. Meanwhile, Russia currently gets €400m (£340m) per day from gas sales to the bloc and it has no way of rerouting this supply to other markets, BBC reported.

For the Kremlin this is designed to suggest a dramatic escalation in the economic battle between the West and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has outlined a pathway for the cutting of gas supplies to Europe if Western customers refuse to pay for supplies in the Russian currency the rouble.

However, the market reaction suggests the details of the mechanism mean that, in practice, European customers will just have to change their currency dealers to Gazprombank. That bank has already been left unsanctioned, for the purpose of continuity of energy trade. 

As a result, gas prices remain very high, but did not today shoot into the stratosphere. There should be a workaround. 

As one leading analyst told me, this solution has "saved face" for Putin, who can sound tough on domestic TV. Ultimately, as Russian officials have repeatedly said for decades, Russian supply of energy to the West continued uninterrupted even during the height of the Cold War.

Ultimately, Russia still needs the money for the gas, and still wants to leave the possibility of a market for its main export once a peace deal is signed. However, it is also true to say that the threat of a cut-off has escalated. EU nations have prepared emergency measures to manage demand, and would be more willing to face that now during spring and summer than winter, accident to BBC reported.

The net effect of the mechanism announced is to limit the ability of the West to freeze the revenues they pay to Gazprom, which Putin described as receiving the gas for free.

Some Ukrainian officials have suggested such an approach. Oil and gas dollars and euros continue to help the Kremlin resist an otherwise tough set of financial sanctions.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that his country will be sending armored Bushmaster vehicles to Ukraine to help in its war against Russia, Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy specifically asked for them during a video appeal to Australian lawmakers for more aid.

Zelenskyy addressed the Australian Parliament on Thursday and asked for the Australian-manufactured four-wheel-drive vehicles. 

Morrison told reporters the vehicles will be flown over on Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport planes, but he didn’t specify how many Bushmaster vehicles would be sent or when, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re not just sending our prayers, we are sending our guns, we’re sending our munitions, we’re sending our humanitarian aid, we’re sending all of this, our body armor, all of these things and we’re going to be sending our armored vehicles, our Bushmasters as well,” Morrison said.

Russian troops handed control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant back to the Ukrainians and left the heavily contaminated site early Friday, more than a month after taking it over, Ukrainian authorities said, as fighting raged on the outskirts of Kyiv and other fronts, Associated Press reported.

Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of that.

The withdrawal took place amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover while regrouping, resupplying its forces and redeploying them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian withdrawals from the north and center of the country were just a military tactic and that the forces are building up for new powerful attacks in the southeast.

“We know their intentions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. “We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.”

“There will be battles ahead,” he added.

Meanwhile, a convoy of 45 buses headed to Mariupol in another bid to evacuate people from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area. But Russian forces blocked the buses, and only 631 people were able to get out of the city in private cars, according to the Ukrainian government, according to the Associated Press.

Twelve Ukrainian buses were able to deliver 14 tons of food and medical supplies to Mariupol, but the aid was seized by Russian troops, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said late Thursday.

The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Tens of thousands have managed to get out of Mariupol in the past few weeks by way of humanitarian corridors, reducing its population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 as of last week, but other relief efforts have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks.

A new round of talks was scheduled for Friday, five weeks into the war that has left thousands dead and driven 4 million Ukrainians from the country.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed by Ukraine that the Russian forces at the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster had transferred control of it in writing to the Ukrainians.

The last Russian troops left the Chernobyl plant early Friday, the Ukrainian government agency responsible for the exclusion zone said.

Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers it said were exposed to radiation and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, and the IAEA said it had not been able to confirm the reports of Russian troops receiving high doses. It said it was seeking more information, Associated Press reported.

Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site in the opening stages of the Feb. 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce at the site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986.

Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert with the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said it “seems unlikely” a large number of troops would develop severe radiation illness, but it was impossible to know for sure without more details.

He said contaminated material was probably buried or covered with new topsoil during the cleanup of Chernobyl, and some soldiers may have been exposed to a “hot spot” of radiation while digging. Others may have assumed they were at risk too, he said.

Early this week, the Russians said they would significantly scale back military operations in areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to increase trust between the two sides and help negotiations along, according to the Associated Press.

But in the Kyiv suburbs, regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media Thursday that Russian forces shelled Irpin and Makariv and that there were battles around Hostomel. Pavliuk said there were Ukrainian counterattacks and some Russian withdrawals around the suburb of Brovary to the east.

How do you evaluate your five-year tenure? 

After the elections, we were determined to work as per the spirit of the constitution. We score ourselves 70 out of 100. As Budhanilkantha is a new municipality, formed after the merger of a few former village development committees, we had some extra challenges than other local units. The first thing we had to focus on was setting up the basic infrastructure, as we had no proper office. Among the 18 municipalities in Kathmandu valley, we were the first to have our own administrative building. Also, since we had to transition from a collection of villages into one single town, we had to develop things while keeping the prestige and essence of the Capital city in mind. So I am quite happy with what we’ve accomplished in the past five years.

We focused on five things: good governance, infrastructure development, social development, economic prosperity, and environment and disaster management. 

How did your municipality cope during Covid-19 pandemic? 

We had Rs40 million as a covid crisis management fund. Our main target group was to support daily-wage workers, as they barely had any savings to get by during the pandemic. We assisted them in many ways, sometimes with cash handouts and sometimes with free meals. Even after the pandemic situation became normal, we continued to facilitate the citizens in need by reducing taxes in many services. 

How is your municipality different from others? 

All the 753 local governments are different from each other based on their needs, resources and capacity. Budhanilkantha Municipality was in need of community schools and hospitals and we built them. We also connected drinking water pipelines to every household. It was a project that cost Rs2 bn. 

What have you done to improve service delivery to the people? 

Every day, I meet with around 200 people from my municipality. I sit with them and listen to their problems. I also try to address their concerns as soon as possible. We have tried to make the people feel that their local government is there for them. We look after the concerns of every group and community. We have established welfare clubs for women, children, youths, students, senior citizens and others.

We also help pregnant women by looking after their health and diet and bearing all the expenses. We have also opened government Montessori schools for children. For the youths, we organize various counseling sessions to support their emotional and psychological wellbeing. We have also created employment opportunities for adults and provided health care services to the senior citizens. Altogether, Budhanilkantha Municipality provides 38 kinds of services to the people. I believe we have largely fulfilled the needs of the citizens. 

How is your coordination with neighboring municipalities? 

Being in the Kathmandu valley, there are many things we cannot do alone, like the problem of drinking water, drainage, dumping site, etc. We have to collaborate with the other municipalities and state agencies in most development projects. This has certainly slowed down the pace of our development. In some cases, poor coordination has also led the Nepal Electricity Authority and Nepal Water Supply Corporation to dig up the recently surfaced roads. This is an issue we plan to address in the coming days. As for the coordination with neighboring municipalities, we communicated and collaborated on a need basis for projects like river cleaning, river corridor management, urbanization, waste management, water supply, and security. 

What are your agendas for the upcoming local election? 

In the past five years, we worked focusing on good governance, infrastructure development, social development, economic prosperity, and environment and disaster management. Citizens have witnessed the improvement in these five areas, and they are happy and satisfied with my work. But still there are a lot of things we need to improve. We need a sustainable development plan. That will be my agenda in the upcoming elections. 

Introduction of Budhanilkantha Municipality 

Budhanilkantha Municipality, located in Kathmandu district of Bagmati Province, was formed after a merger of the six former village development committees: Chapali, Bhadrakali, Khadka Bhadrakali, Chunikhel, Mahankal, Vishnu Budhanilkantha, and Kapan on 2 Dec 2014. The municipality has 13 wards. Budhanilkantha is home to important religious sites like Budhanilkantha, Chandeshwar, Rudreshwar, Bhadrakali, Panchakanya, Kapan Bangalamukhi. The famous Kapan Gumba and several other monasteries are also located in Budhanilkantha. 

Besides, rivers like Bishnumati, Rudramati, Dhobikhola, Yagyamati and Chyanekhola also flow from this area. The municipality shares borders with Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Tokha Municipality, and Nuwakot district. 

Message from the mayor 

I thank all the residents and voters of Budhanilkantha Municipality for believing in me for this post. Five years ago, my office had neither the idea nor the basic infrastructure to start the work, as we were a new municipality. But despite all the hurdles, we performed very well. The progress has been witnessed by the local residents.

Still, the local government could not fulfill a lot of things that it had promised before the elections. This was largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, we also had limitations on resources.

Lastly, I would like to request all to vote wisely in the upcoming local elections.

Query

I'm a 41-year-old married man with two small kids. Lately, I have been feeling empty and unfulfilled. It’s like I’m stuck in between feeling young and feeling old. Hobbies that once made me happy don’t give me any pleasure these days. I also fear my relationship with my wife is failing. We get into arguments more often than we used to. I often think of being unfaithful with my wife even though I love her and don’t want anything to happen to our relationship. I am wracked with guilt and regret. It’s like no one understands me and I don’t know what to do anymore. --- AS 

Answer by Kapil Sharma, Counselling Psychologist, HUDEC-Nepal

First, I want to acknowledge that it is okay to feel this way at this stage of your life. Our happiness tracks a U shape in our lifespan. As a kid, we are the happiest at the top. As we grow older, we take on more responsibilities on our shoulders. We reach the point in the U-curve where there is a lot going on in our life and happiness is at its lowest. But as we grow and become more mature, our understanding of life becomes clearer and we learn to become happy again. So, you feeling this way, at this point of life, is normal.

If hobbies don’t give you joy anymore, you can always try something new. It’s never too late to look for what makes you happy in the present, and now is a great time to make a new breakthrough in life. If you feel like doing something spontaneous, just do it.

Also, communication is an important part of getting through a midlife crisis. Try talking to your elders, who most probably have been through the same conflicted feelings like you have. They can help you validate your emotions. Their experience and advice can be comforting. Try talking to your friends as well. Share with them how you have been feeling and listen to them, for they might be going through the same thing.

Talking about your feelings with your wife is the most important thing you can do to improve your relationship. It is likely that she is going through something similar, and just be honest with her about everything. Communicating with one's spouse can strengthen relationships. Your wife can provide you emotional support in times like this. You can also talk to your kids. Share your experiences in a way they understand, and there is no doubt it will comfort you.

Self-reflection and self-awareness are other important factors at times like these. One activity you can do is ‘life auditing’, where you create a lifeline of your life, marking important things that happened to you, decisions that brought a change in your life, your significant experiences—anything that you feel made you the person you are today. It will help you understand if there were any instances that built up to this feeling of emptiness now, and you will know what part of yourself to work on to overcome it.

If things have gotten to a point that it is affecting your eating and sleeping as well as your work, I suggest that you visit a therapist or a psychiatrist.

A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court against the decision of the government to promote three Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs) to the post of Assistant Inspector General (AIG).

Saying that the government promoted DIGs Basanta Kumar Pant, Dhiraj Pratap Singh and Rabindra Bahadur Dhanuk illegally, DIG Ishwor Babu Karki, who was not promoted to the post of AIG, filed the writ at the apex court today.

A Cabinet meeting held this morning decided to promote Pant, Singh and Dhanuk to the post of AIG.

The hearing on writ petition challenging the promotion will begin on Sunday.

Karan KC claimed five wickets including a hat-trick as Nepal reached the final of the Tri-Nation T20I Series on Thursday.

In the match played at the TU ground in Kirtipur on Thursday, Nepal hammered Papua New Guinea by 37 runs.

Chasing the target of 204 runs, PNG were bowled out in 166 runs in 19.4 overs. This is PNG’s third consecutive defeat.

Karan KC took five wickets at the cost of 21 runs in 3.4 overs. This is the first time that the Nepali bowler claimed five wickets in the T20 International.

Abinash Bohara and Sompal Kami took two wickets each while skipper Sandeep Lamichhane claimed one wicket.

Sent into bat first after losing the toss, Nepal scored 203 runs in allotted 20 overs losing six wickets.

Dipendra Singh Airee scored highest 66 runs off 33 balls hitting for sixes and three fours.

Similarly, Rohit Paudel made 41 runs of 23 balls with two sixes and four boundaries.

Opener Asif Sheikh made 38 runs off 29 balls hitting one six and four boundaries. Kushal Bhurtel scored 17 runs off 20 balls and Mohammad Adil Ahamad contributed 31 runs of 11 balls.

Nepal reported 25 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 3, 623 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 24 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 328 people underwent antigen tests, of which one was tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 89 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1, 081 active cases in the country.