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The Supreme Court on Wednesday scrapped all the writs filed against the Citizenship Bill.

A meeting of the constitutional bench held this afternoon scrapped all the six writs filed against the ordinance related to the amendment of Citizenship Act brought the then KP Sharma Oli-led government.

The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli brought the Citizenship Bill by dissolving the House for the second time to incorporate then Mahantha Thakur group of Janata Samajbadi Party.

Saying that it is unconstitutional to bring an ordinance by ignoring the Citizenship Bill which is under consideration in the Party, senior advocate Borna Bahadur Karki, advocate Bir Bhandra Joshi, advocate Ram Bahadur Shahi, advocate Kul Bahadur Bigota and deputy general secretary on behalf of Maulik Jarakilo Party Laxman Pokharel filed the writs against the Bill.

Prime Minister Deuba's office and President Bidya Devi Bhandari were made the defendants.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki, Justices Mira Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Ananda Mohan Bhattarai scrapped the writs today.

As many as 3,500 police personnel will be deployed in Kathmandu Valley to ensure celebration of Holi festival in a peaceful, decent and civilized manner.

SP Sanotsh Singh Rathore, spokesperson at the Metropolitan Police Office, Ranipokhari, said that police have prepared special security arrangements in view of the Holi festival.

It has been learnt that more than 1, 700 police personnel will be deployed in Kathmandu, more than 600 in Lalitpur and more than 400 in Bhaktapur.

At least 300 traffic police personnel from the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division will be deployed for checking.

The Traffic Police Division said that it has decided to set up checkpoints in 68 places in the Kathmandu Valley.

SP Rathore said that more than 100 police personnel in civvies will be deployed from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division for the festival.

Police have requested the general public to call police control number 100 in case of any incident.

Nepal Police have urged the general public to put precautionary measures to prevent possible incidents of fire in the dry season.

The security agency has called for the public to remain alert of the incidents and subsequent loss of lives and properties.

Issuing a public notice, the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu noted that the disastrous incidents of fire are most likely to take place almost during 100 days from mid-March to mid-June and therefore urged to place precautionary measures from the public level to prevent occurrence of such incidents and reduce the loss even if occurred.

Sharing that Nepal Police have been effortful for controlling fire incidents and reducing loss, Nepal Police spokesperson Dinesh Raj Mainali said fire incidents can be checked or its potential loss can be reduced by placing some precautionary measures.

The Nepal Police have also issued an 11-point precautionary measure to check potential incidents of fire. Among the measures unveiled are keeping matches, lighter, gas cylinder and stove away from children, using them in an attentive manner and keeping the things safe after use.

The Metropolitan Police Range also asked not to use high-voltage electronic goods from the same power socket and not to leave illumination of incense sticks and handmade incense at prayers' rooms and mosquito quail at bed rooms.

The security agency also urged the public draping the cylinder with a jute sack or blanket if it catches fire, keep the windows and doors open before using gas stove and not to put the forest area in fire for cattle grazing,

The police have also urged one and all to dial up 100 for the police control room and 101 for fire engine service. RSS

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Krishna Kumar Shrestha and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister for Human Resource Abdulrahaman Al Awar held a meeting on Tuesday. 

During the meeting held at Abudhabi, matters related to bilateral interests and welfare of Nepali workers in UAE were discussed, the Labour Ministry informed. 

On the occasion, Labour Minister Shrestha lauded the UAE government noting that the recent labour law was in favour of immigrant workforce. 

The two ministers agreed to work in tandem to resolve the problems of stranded Nepali who came to UAE on visit visa on temptation of employment and bring the guilty to book. 

As informed, the UAE government will help book the guilty and institutions who brought people to UAE on visit visa with false promise of employment. 

Also on the occasion, Minister Awar expressed his commitment to establish skill development training centre and help produce competent human resource by investing on capacity building. 

According to Minister Shrestha's Secretariat, the UAE Minister also pledged to provide support in Nepal's bid for the establishment of laborers’ hospital.

The two ministers also discussed the issues related to social security, workforce safety, health and insurance and increment of remuneration of Nepali workers in UAE. RSS

The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution late Tuesday seeking investigations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine, Associated Press reported.

The bipartisan measure from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says the Senate strongly condemns the “violence, war crimes. crimes against humanity” being carried out Russian military forces under Putin’s direction. It encourages international criminal courts to investigate Putin, his security council and military leaders for possible war crimes.

“These atrocities deserve to be investigated for war crimes,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The measure was approved swiftly and without dissent as lawmakers in Congress continue to muscle a bipartisan show of force against the Russian war in Ukraine. First introduced almost two weeks ago, the Senate resolution would not carry the force of law, but is another example of Congress providing the Biden administration political support to take a tough line against Putin’s aggression, according to the Associated Press.

Last week, US Vice President Kamala Harris embraced calls for an international war crimes investigation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, citing the “atrocities” of bombing civilians, including a maternity hospital.

Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda at a press conference in Warsaw, Harris stopped short of directly accusing Russia of having committed war crimes.

“Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching,” said Harris, noting that the United Nations has already started a process to review allegations. 

The International Criminal Court had earlier announced it has launched an investigation that could target senior officials believed responsible for war crimes and other violations over the war in Ukraine.

The resolution approved by the Senate has been embraced by senators from both parties, Republicans and Democrats, Associated Press reported.

It says the Senate condemns Putin, the Russian Federation, the Russian Security Council, members of the Russian military and others of committing flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities that rise to the level of war crimes. 

The resolution calls for the US and others to seek investigations of Putin and his regime at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice for potential war crimes, according to the Associated Press.

Ukraine has praised the courage of three European leaders who made a long, hazardous journey by rail from Poland to Kyiv in a show of support as the city came under further Russian attack, BBC reported.

The prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday evening as a curfew began in Kyiv.

Afterwards, the Czech leader told Ukrainians that they are "not alone".

The group are the first Western leaders to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded.

"We admire your brave fight," Petr Fiala wrote in a tweet. "We know that you're also fighting for our lives. You're not alone, our countries stand by your side."

Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki said that Europe would never be the same if it lost Ukraine. Instead, he wrote, it would be a "defeated, humiliated and pathetic version of its former self", according to BBC.

"Your visit is a powerful expression of support for Ukraine," the country's president is quoted as telling the group.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Twitter that "devastating" sanctions against Russia had been discussed, including the "recognition of Russia as a sponsor of terrorism".

Meanwhile, as the talks took place, loud explosions could be heard across Kyiv from fighting on the western edge of the capital. 

The European Union said the politicians were not carrying any particular mandate, but that leaders in Brussels were aware of the trip, as it was mentioned during an informal EU summit in Versailles, France, last week. 

Poland's deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz admitted the trip was risky, but said it was "worth taking for the sake of values". He said they had told the Russians the visit was taking place,BBC reported.

Ukraine said it saw possible room for compromise in talks with Russia despite Moscow’s stepped up bombardment Tuesday of Kyiv and new assaults on the port city of Mariupol, from where an estimated 20,000 civilians managed to flee through a humanitarian corridor, Associated Press reported.

The fast-moving developments on the diplomatic front and on the ground came as Russia’s invasion neared the three-week mark and the number of Ukrainians who have left the country amid Europe’s heaviest fighting since World War II eclipsed 3 million.

After delegations from Ukraine and Russia met again Tuesday via video, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early Wednesday that Russia’s demands were becoming “more realistic.” The two sides were expected to speak again Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

“Efforts are still needed, patience is needed,” he said in his nightly video address to the nation. “Any war ends with an agreement.”

Zelenskyy, who was expected to address the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, thanked President Joe Biden and “all the friends of Ukraine” for $13.6 billion in new support.

He appealed for more weapons and more sanctions to punish Russia, and repeated his call to “close the skies over Ukraine to Russian missiles and planes.”

He said Russian forces on Tuesday had been unable to move deeper into Ukrainian territory but had continued their heavy shelling of cities.

Over the past day, 28,893 civilians were able to flee the fighting through nine humanitarian corridors, although the Russians refused to allow aid into Mariupol, he said.

In other developments, the leaders of three European Union countries — Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia — visited the embattled capital Tuesday, arriving by train in a bold show of support amid the danger, Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, large explosions thundered across Kyiv before dawn from what Ukrainian authorities said were artillery strikes, as Russia’s bombardment of the capital appeared to become more systematic and edged closer to the city center, smashing apartments, a subway station and other civilian sites.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that barrages hit four multi-story buildings in the city and killed dozens. The strikes disrupted the relative calm that returned after an initial advance by Moscow’s forces was stopped in the early days of the war. 

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s assessment, said that the Russians were using long-range fire to hit civilian targets inside Kyiv with increasing frequency but that their ground forces were making little to no progress around the country. The official said Russian troops were still about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the center of the capital.

The official said the U.S. has seen indications that Russia believes it may need more troops or supplies than it has on hand in Ukraine, and it is considering ways to get more resources into the country. The official did not elaborate, according to the Associated Press.

Before Tuesday’s talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would press its demands that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO, adopt a neutral status and “demilitarize.”

In a statement that seemed to signal potential grounds for agreement with Moscow, Zelenskyy told European leaders gathered in London that he realizes NATO has no intention of accepting Ukraine.

“We have heard for many years about the open doors, but we also heard that we can’t enter those doors,” he said. “This is the truth, and we have simply to accept it as it is.”

NATO does not admit nations with unsettled territorial conflicts. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said in recent weeks that he realizes NATO isn’t going to offer membership to Ukraine and that he could consider a neutral status for his country but needs strong security guarantees from both the West and Russia.

The U.N. said close to 700 civilians in Ukraine have been confirmed killed, with the true figure probably much higher.

Two journalists working for Fox News were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by fire Monday on the outskirts of Kyiv, the network said. Fox identified the two as video journalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, who was helping Fox crews navigate the area. Another journalist was killed Sunday in Ukraine, Associated Press reported.

New efforts to bring civilians to safety and deliver aid were underway around the country. The Red Cross said it was working to evacuate people in about 70 buses from the northeastern town of Sumy, near the Russian border.

The exodus from Mariupol marked the biggest evacuation yet from the southern city of 430,000, where officials say a weekslong siege has killed more than 2,300 people and left residents struggling for food, water, heat and medicine. Bodies have been buried in mass graves.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior aide to Zelenskyy, said that about 20,000 people managed to leave Mariupol on Tuesday in 4,000 private vehicles via a designated safe corridor leading to the city of Zaporizhzhia.

On a day when thousands managed to leave Mariupol, Russian troops seized the city’s largest hospital, said regional leader Pavlo Kyrylenko. He said the troops forced about 400 people from nearby homes into the Regional Intensive Care Hospital and were using them and roughly 100 patients and staff as human shields by not allowing them to leave, Associated Press reported.

The government has announced vacancies for 100, 000 temporary police for the upcoming local level elections scheduled for May 13.

The Nepal Police headquarters on Tuesday announced vacancies for the temporary police.

Nepali nationals can apply for the vacancies from March 20-25.

The temporary police will have to work for 40 days and will get Rs 43, 000 as salary. 

Those who want to apply for the vacancies will have to be between 18 to 54 years of age.