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A total of 35,952 foreigners visited different tourist destinations in the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) in the month of Kartik (from mid-October to mid-November) this year.

The number of total visitors is eight percent more compared to the figure of the same month last year in ACAP, one of the best trekking routes in the world.

The ACAP officials shared that 33,310 trekkers had visited the area in the month of Kartik last year. The autumn season, especially the months of Ashoj and Kartik, is considered the right time for trekking along the ACAP.

Chief of ACAP Dr Rabin Kadariya shared that the number of Indian tourists is the highest among the visitors here.

Besides the foreigners, the number of domestic tourists has also significantly increased year on year.

Dr Kadariya stated that domestic tourists throng the ACAP for trekking by utilizing the vacation of the major festivals.

The key touristic destinations in the ACAP are Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Peak, Ghandruk, Tilicho Lake, Thorang-la Pass, Upper Mustang, Ghorepani, Punhil and several others.

The ACAP covers some 15 local levels in Kaski, Lamjung, Manang, Myagdi and Mustang districts.

The weather today will remain partly cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and mainly fair in the remaining areas of the country this afternoon.

Light rain and snowfall are likely at one or two places of the mountainous regions of Koshi Province, according to the Weather Forecasting Division.

The meteorological analysis by the Division states that there is no significant effect of the weather system across the country at present.

Likewise, the weather is likely to remain partly cloudy in the hilly area of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces and generally fair in rest of the parts of the country tonight.

Pokhara Avengers are playing against Sudurpaschim Royals in the match to be played today under the ongoing Nepal Premier League (NPL), a franchise-based Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Kushal Bhurtel is leading the team Pokhara Avengers while Dipendra Singh Airee is the captain of the team Sudurpaschim Royals.

Pokhara Avengers has both national and international players including key players Akash Chand, Sagar Dhakal, Tritra Raj Das, Dinesh Kharel and others.

Likewise, wicketkeeper Binod Bhandari, Chris Lynn and other national and international cricketers are with Sudurpaschim Royals.

The day-night match is scheduled to start at 4 pm at TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur and will be played under floodlights, installed for the second season of NPL 2025.

Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal Dagny Mjøs has said that Nepal and Norway will continuously engage in fostering cooperation in the area of higher education.  

At an interaction program on Open Parliament and Citizen Participation organized by Mid-West University in Surkhet on Thursday, Ambassador Mjøs recalled the ongoing cooperation in promoting inclusive education at Mid-West University and expressed her commitment to continued collaboration in the future. "There has been a cooperation in promoting inclusive education at Mid-West University," she stated. 

The University mentioned that the discussion program was held under the chair of Vice-Chancellor of Mid-West University, Prof Dr Dhruba Kumar Gautam, with the presence of Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal Dagny and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nepal Resident Representative Kyoko Yokosuka.

On the occasion, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Gautam highlighted that Nepal–Norway relations are based on friendship and cooperation and noted that such an interaction program would strengthen collaboration in higher education in the Karnali region and further consolidate relations between the two nations.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Gautam shared that the bilateral partnership has impressively strengthened the foundation of the university in evidence-based teaching, high-quality research and policy advocacy.

Registrar of Mid-West University Prof Dr Shobhakhar Kandel, Executive Director of the Directorate of International Relations Dr Yadu Prasad Gyawali and Executive Director of the Directorate of Planning, Development, and Monitoring Dr Bishnu Kumar Khadka, among others were present on the occasion.

Simara has remained tense for a couple of days, giving an indication of turmoil in Madhesh province as Nepal takes not-so-certain steps toward national elections slated for March 5 next year. The CPN-UML had plans to organize an ‘awakening campaign’ in the city located in Bara district but it did not go well with GenZers. On Wednesday, those wanting to organize the campaign clashed with those opposed to it, leaving a couple of GenZers injured.

On Thursday, as a group identifying themselves as GenZers hit the streets of Simara against the police’s ‘failure’ to arrest UML cadres involved in Wednesday’s clash on the basis of their complaint, police used force to disperse them and imposed a curfew. There’s no denying that everyone has the right to protest—and to counter-protest—but the ‘show of strength’ has to be peaceful. What’s more, a protest should not cause inconveniences to others in a democracy worth its name. As the good ole GB Shaw says: Your freedom ends where my nose begins.    

But protesters in our country take these things f0r granted and choose to bring life to a halt, which goes against the letter and spirit of our Constitution and makes a mockery of the rule of law.   According to Article 17(2)(b) of the 2015 Constitution of Nepal, every citizen has the freedom to assemble peaceably and without arms. 

While every outfit has the right to organize its programs peacefully, the host community also has the right to express its disinterest toward such programs and even bar them. In this day and age of information technology, knowledge and information are just a click away and people are generally ‘awake’. This means politicians do not need to take long flights or rough and tumble rides across Nepal all too often to sermon them on several things under the sun and beyond in a typical Panchayati fashion.

What’s more, a significant chunk of the national population appears tired of the old political parties and even their new leaders, thanks to thriving corruption, bad governance, nepotism, the lack of rule of law and chronic political instability over the decades. The loss of mass appeal for the big parties is no good tiding in a democracy, especially in view of the fact that new political forces have not become strong enough to replace the old ones.

Against this backdrop, time has perhaps come for Nepal’s political parties, especially those with the prefix ‘major’ attached to them, to come up with new ways of communicating with the masses that are in sync with changing times and a fast-changing technological landscape.

Having said this, forces across the political spectrum should develop a habit of hearing each other out and desist from suppressing dissent with a brute force to avert the kind of colossal losses that we as a nation suffered on Sept 8 and 9. Moreover, barring parties from organizing their programs will not create a conducive environment for the national elections. The sooner the political forces—and the government—realise this, the better.

Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi has said that the party's 15th general convention should not be held immediately.

He was speaking at a program organized by the Nepal Women's Association in Kathmandu on Thursday.

Saying that the current priority is the elections to the House of Representatives, he said that the general convention should be held only after the elections.

He said that the party's regular general convention should be held in April and preparations should be made accordingly.

"Let's prioritize the elections for now and hold the 15th general convention in April after the polls are completed. We should all start preparations for the same."

In recent weeks, the controversy over the general convention within the Congress has reached its peak.

The party's Central Committee meeting has not been able to reach a conclusion over the proposed convention date.

The Bagmati province government has raised revenue over Rs 11.59 billion or 17.18 percent of its annual target for the fiscal year 2082/83 BS.

The land and house registration and vehicle tax are considered the major sources of revenue of the province government.

As it was estimated to collect revenue of Rs 30.891 billion in the fiscal year 2082/83 BS, around 22.45 percent of the target or 6.936 billion has been raised during the period from Shrawan (mid-August) to Kartik (mid-November), said Public Information Officer at the Internal Affairs and Planning Ministry of the Bagmati Province, Suraj Paudel.

Under the land and house registration category, Rs 1.237 billion or 16.7 percent of the annual target was collected.

Likewise, the provincial government has collected revenue of Rs 2.411 billion or 28.2 percent of the target under the vehicle tax heading during the reporting period, it is stated.

Other sources of revenue of the provincial government during the period included Rs 2.495 billion from Value Added Tax and Rs 843.6 million from the excise duty, the ministry shared.

Information Officer Paudel further said that the province government received Rs 3.463 billion or 23.37 percent of the estimated revenue from the equalization grant of the federal government.

The province government has collected Rs 1.132 billion or 23.70 percent of the target under the internal sources during the reporting period of the fiscal year 2082/83 BS.

The sixth edition of the Nepal–US Land Forces Talk (LFT), a bilateral military dialogue that has been held since 2018, commenced today at the Nepali Army Headquarters in Kathmandu.

The three-day program aims to strengthen collaboration between the Nepali Army and the United States Army. The dialogue focuses on exchanging military experience and cooperation in areas such as global peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

As part of the event, Lieutenant General Scott A Winter, who is leading the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) delegation, is scheduled to hold a courtesy meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashok Raj Sigdel at the Army Headquarters.

The Nepali Army has been participating in various bilateral and multilateral exercises and competitions with the armed forces of friendly nations including India, China, the United Kingdom and Pakistan, with the objective of enhancing its professional capabilities.

The Army believes that such engagements help further deepen military relations among partner countries.