Submit your Article

A meeting of the second-rung leaders of the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML ended inconclusively on Saturday.

The meeting held at UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli's residence in Balkot ended inconclusively after the leaders refused to budge from their stance.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the NC leaders urged the UML leaders to lift the House obstruction and to help endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

In response, the UML leaders said that the door to the Parliament is still closed for them and urged the NC leaders to open it.

The UML leaders said that they would not allow the House to proceed with its business until the Speaker is removed or he takes action against the 14 lawmakers.

Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan Tapa Adhikari has visited Sadhu Belo (Forest) temple complex in Sukkur, Sindh.

The complex is one of the biggest pilgrimage sites of Pakistani Hindus and daily a large number of worshippers, spiritual seekers, and other tourists visit the island for pilgrimage and to see the cultural heritage of Pakistan.

Situated on an island middle in the Indus river, it is believed that the Sadhu Belo was established by an ascetic, Bankhandi Maharaj, of Udashin sect, from Nepal in the 18th century. The Evacuee Trust Property Board of Pakistan has maintained and preserved the property.

Of 753 local governments in Nepal, only 18 have women municipal heads. The constitution mandates that political parties field one male and one female candidate for the top two positions in local governments. But most women got to contest only the post of deputies. In other words, political parties continue to prefer male candidates in the main executive posts. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to Prabha Baral, Mayor of Rapti Municipality, Chitwan, about her experience of leading a local government and women’s overall representation at the local level.

How do you evaluate your five years as mayor?

As we were working under a new political setup, a large part of the past five years was spent on building the foundation for smooth functioning of our local government. We constructed buildings for municipal and ward offices and passed some municipal laws to begin with. We also set up health posts in every ward and rebuilt schools and homes damaged in the 2015 earthquakes.

As our municipality is surrounded by the Rapti River and the Chitwan National Park, a considerable amount of time and effort was also spent to prevent monsoon floods and wildlife incursion into human settlements. We built an embankment along Rapti to stop river-water from spilling over during the rainy season and destroying crops and properties. We also erected a concrete fence along the areas bordering Chitwan National Park to limit human-wildlife conflict. Then there is the problem of landslides in parts of the municipality that fall in the hilly region. We are trying to address this through an afforestation campaign.           

So overall, the past five years were productive. I think our work proved the worth of local bodies.

Did you experience any challenges as a female mayor?

Personally, I did not face any challenges or difficulties while executing my work. But there were some times when I felt that my judgments and decisions were being questioned just because I was a woman. Other than that, my experience of leading the municipality was good.

How was women’s participation in your municipality?

It was pretty good because our municipality provided different skill-based training to almost 700 women in these five years. These training sessions helped them to get jobs and start small-scale businesses.

Many women now feel empowered. They can speak in front of the mass, participate in municipal programs and raise questions before officials.

The municipality also formed a welfare committee comprising women leaders from all political parties to provide various platforms and opportunities to local women. As part of the women's welfare program, we also made sure that the construction projects under the municipality were primarily led by women. 

Why do you think the country has only a handful of women mayors?

We have tried to create an environment where men and women get equal opportunities through our constitution. Nepal is on the path of change, which doesn’t happen overnight. We only have 18 women municipal heads right now, but I am certain this number will rise.

A few women including myself were given the opportunity to lead our respective areas, and I believe all of us executed our roles well.

Our work helped break the stereotypes that hindered many women from reaching leadership positions.

Do you have any suggestions for political parties to increase women’s participation in local bodies?

Just give us a chance. Then you will see women are as smart and competent as men. I believe the current crop of women municipal heads is more progressive compared to male municipal heads.

Nepal logged 155 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths on Saturday. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 239 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 101 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 913 people underwent antigen tests, of which 54 tested positive.

The Ministry said that 540 infected people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

As of today, there are 8, 839 active cases in the country. 

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to lift all Covid-related restrictions from Monday, and also allow schools to discontinue online/ hybrid classes in favour of physical classes from April 1, Indian Express reported.

The decision comes after two months of curbs that took a toll on economic activities in the capital. The restrictions were imposed on December 26 last year, in the wake of rising cases driven by the Omicron variant.

Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “DDMA withdraws all restrictions as situation improves and people facing hardships due to loss of jobs. Schools to function fully offline from 1 April. Fines for not wearing masks reduced to Rs 500. All should continue following Covid appropriate behaviour. Government will keep strict watch.”

Currently, the fine for not wearing a mask is Rs 2,000.

The announcement means that night curfew will be lifted, markets can stay open till 10 pm, and restaurants, bars, cafes, and cinema halls can function at 100 per cent seating capacity. Currently, all markets and shops operate from 10 am to 8 pm. Sources said while restaurants, bars and cafes can remain open till 11 pm, this may be extended to midnight.

Schools will be resuming fully offline classes after a gap of almost two years.

The decision was taken as Delhi’s Covid positivity rate continues to hover around 1 per cent or less. The city reported 460 new cases, two deaths and a positivity rate of 0.81 per cent in the last 24 hours. Sources said the restrictions may be re-imposed if there is an increase in the number of cases.

Russian troops pressed toward Ukraine’s capital Saturday, after a night of explosions and street fighting that sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter underground, Associated Press reported. The country’s president refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting that he would stay. “The fight is here,” he said.

It was not immediately clear how far Russian troops had advanced. Ukrainian officials reported some success in fending off assaults, but fighting persisted near the capital. Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were probing Ukrainian defenses to clear a path for the main forces.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitchsko said a missile hit a high-rise building on the city’s southwestern outskirts. He posted an image showing a gaping hold in one side of the building that ravaged apartments on several floors. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The swift movement of the troops after less than three days of fighting further imperiled a country clinging to independence in the face of a broad Russian assault, which threatened to topple Ukraine’s democratic government and scramble the post-Cold War world order.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered renewed assurance Saturday that the country’s military would stand up to the Russian invasion. In a video recorded on a downtown Kyiv street, he said he remained in the city and that claims the Ukrainian military would put down arms were false.

We aren’t going to lay down weapons. We will protect the country,” the Ukrainian president said. “Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it’s our land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that.”

U.S. officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own. The invasion represented Putin’s boldest effort yet to redraw the map of Europe and revive Moscow’s Cold War-era influence. It triggered new international efforts to end the invasion, including direct sanctions on Putin.

Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML have agreed to move ahead together to safeguard democracy.

During a meeting held at the UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli's residence in Balkot on Friday night, the two parties agreed to move ahead together to protect democracy.

But the two parties failed to forge consensus on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

On the occasion, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba urged Oli to help endorse the $500 million grant compact.

In response, Oli said that the door to the Parliament is still closed for them and urged the Prime Minister to open it.

Government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that Oli urged Prime Minister Deuba to create a conducive environment to take part in the parliamentary proceedings.

He said that the Prime Minister is making a maximum effort to ratify the MCC. 

Similarly, UML spokesperson Pradeep Gyawali said that Prime Minister Deuba urged Chairman Oli to participate in the Parliamentary proceedings by lifting the House obstructions to ratify the MCC compact.

But Oli said that they would not allow the House to proceed with its business until the Speaker is removed or he takes action against the 14 lawmakers.

British airlines have been banned from landing at Russia's airports and from crossing its airspace, the Russian civil aviation regulator has said, BBC reported.

Russia said the move was a response to "the unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities".

On Thursday, the UK banned Russia's national airline Aeroflot from landing in Britain.

The measure was part of sanctions introduced following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told ITV: "I think that's their retaliation for us yesterday banning Aeroflot from using and landing in the United Kingdom. That's their tit for tat response."

Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said: "This measure was taken in accordance with the provisions of the Intergovernmental Air Services Agreement between Russia and the UK as a response to unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities regarding the restriction on regular flights of aircraft owned, leased or operated by a person associated with Russia or registered in Russia."

British Airways said in a statement it was notifying customers on cancelled services and would offer full refunds.

"We apologise for the inconvenience but this is clearly a matter beyond our control," the airline said.

British Airways normally operates three flights per week each way between London and Moscow.

Following Russia's announcement, Virgin Atlantic also said flight paths had been adjusted for some of its services between the UK, Pakistan and India. Flight times on these routes will be extended by between 15 minutes and an hour.