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A paddy transplantation ceremony was organized at the President House, Shital Niwas to commemorate the National Paddy Day today. 

President Ram Chandra Paudel and First Lady Sabita Paudel also participated in the transplanting of paddy seedlings.

Inaugurating the rice planting on the occasion, the Head of the State spoke on the need of modernizing and commercializing the country's agriculture.

He said that he participated symbolically in the plantation to promote a culture of respect for all kinds of labor, including agriculture, and to encourage rice production.

The President emphasized that farmers, who are engaged in agriculture and are striving to introduce it as a pillar of employment, should be honoured as food producers.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli reached Madrid, Spain  to attend  the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development of the United Nations.  

Nepali Ambassador to Spain, Shanil Nepal, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Lok Bahadur Thapa, and senior officers of the Foreign Ministry of Spain, welcomed Prime Minister Oli at Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport here. 

The PM Oli led Nepali delegation is scheduled to reach Seville, the conference venue, this evening. 

Meanwhile, PM Oli and Tanzanian Vice President, Dr Phillip Mpango, held a meeting earlier this morning.

The meeting was held at Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar while heading towards Spain to attend the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development of the United Nations. 

On the occasion, they discussed various dimensions of mutual relations between the two countries.  

Prime Minister Oli's Principal Advisor Bishnu Prasad Rimal, among other officials in the PM's entourage were present on the occasion.

Three persons, including father and daughter died, and two others sustained critical injuries following a head-on collision between two motorcycles at Ramdhuni Municipality-7, Sunsari along the Chatara-Kanchhi Chowk road section. 

The accident occurred when the motorcycle (Ko 33 Pa 9605) en route to Kalabanzar from Chatra-Kanchhi Chowk collided with another motorcycle (Prades 1-02-056 Pa 5864) coming from the opposite direction.

The deceased have been identified as 34-year-old Inarchan Chaudhary, his nine-year-old son Pranish, and another motorcycle rider, 51-year-old Bindhu Yadav. 

Critically injured in the incident, they were rushed to the Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), where they died during the course of treatment, police said.

Inarchan Chaudhary's 32-year-old wife Pratisha and 36-year-old Ramesh Chaudhary of Itahari-7 were injured in the accident. 

They are undergoing treatment at the Dharan-based BPKIHS.

The National Paddy Day is being marked today across the country.

The government in 2061 BS had decided to mark Ashad 15 of the Nepali calendar every year as National Paddy Day and Paddy Cultivation Festival. 

Rice plantation, eating delicacies like curd and beaten rice and participating in the traditional cultural programs like singing, throwing mud at each other and merriment are the major attractions of the day.

Paddy is the major crop not only in Nepal but in entire South Asia.

Chelsea beat 10-man Benfica thanks to three late extra-time goals in an extraordinary Club World Cup last-16 match that lasted more than four hours and included a near two-hour delay for extreme weather, BBC reported.

Goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the second half of extra time in Charlotte, North Carolina eventually saw Chelsea through to the quarter-finals. 

The Premier League side had been heading for an uneventful victory, with Reece James' brilliant near-post free-kick in the 64th minute looking like the winner.

However, with just four minutes left, players were taken off the pitch due to thunderstorms in the area and, when the teams eventually returned after nearly two hours, Benfica scored with their first shot on target to take the game into extra time, according to BBC.

Angel di Maria, playing his final game for Benfica, converted from the penalty spot in the 94th minute after a Chelsea handball to make it 1-1.

Between June 18 and 26, a total of 88,308 undocumented Afghan nationals were forcibly returned from Iran to Afghanistan, according to the IOM's June 28 update, Hindustan Times reported.

More than 88,000 undocumented Afghan migrants were deported from Iran in a single week, Khaama Press reported, citing International Organisation for Migration (IOM), raising alarm over urgent humanitarian and funding needs.

Between June 18 and June 26, a total of 88,308 undocumented Afghan nationals were forcibly returned from Iran to Afghanistan, according to the IOM's June 28 update. The organisation stated that only 11 per cent of these returnees received any humanitarian assistance due to critical resource limitations, calling for urgent international funding to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable.

The report further highlighted that 55 per cent of the returnees during this period were forcibly deported, and 64 per cent were travelling as families--underscoring the disproportionate impact on women and children. This figure marked a steep rise from the previous week, when 32,844 individuals were returned between June 10 and June 17, according to Hindustan Times.

A state funeral has been held in Iran for about 60 people, including military commanders and nuclear scientists, killed during the 12-day conflict with Israel, BBC reported.

Coffins draped in the Iranian flag, bearing portraits of deceased commanders, were flanked by crowds near Tehran's Enghelab Square.

The conflict ended with a ceasefire earlier this week, after the US became directly involved by bombing key nuclear sites in Iran.

Huge crowds of mourners dressed in black chanted slogans, waved Iranian flags and held portraits of those killed.

Ahead of the event, a media campaign urged people to participate, with authorities providing free bus and metro rides. Government offices were shut for the day, according to BBC.

The weather this afternoon will remain partly to fully cloudy across the country due to the influence of monsoon winds. 

There is a chance of light to moderate rainfall, along with thunder and lightning in some areas of the hilly regions, including Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces, as well as in some other areas, according to the Weather Forecasting Division. 

There is a chance of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in one or two places in some areas of Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces and in one or two places in the hilly regions of other provinces.

The Division has predicted light to moderate rainfall and snowfall in some areas of the high hilly and mountainous regions of the country. 

According to the weather forecasting bulletin, it will remain partly to fully cloudy across the country tonight. 

There is a possibility of light to moderate rainfall with thunder and lightning in many places of the hilly regions, including Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces, as well as in some other areas. 

In one or two places in Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim Provinces, as well as in hilly areas of other provinces, there is a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall. 

There is a possibility of light to moderate rainfall in some areas of the high hilly and mountainous regions of the country, the Division informed.