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The 19th Democracy Day (Loktantra Diwas) is being observed across the country today by organizing several programs, including offering tributes to the martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives in democratic struggles. 

Democracy Day has been observed in commemoration of the historic event when the direct rule and autocratic regime of the King came to an end after the reinstatement of dissolved Parliament.. 

It may be noted that the autocratic regime was abolished on April 24,  2006 AD ( Baisakh 11, 2063 BS) when the Parliament that was dissolved on May 22,  2002 AD (Jetha 8, 2059 BS) was reinstated. 

On the day, former King Shah's proclamation noted, "The House of Representatives (HoR) has been reinstated in accordance with the public sentiment expressed through the present people's movement, keeping in mind the fact that the source of state power rests on the Nepali people and the sovereignty and state power of Nepal lies with the Nepali people". 

A meeting of the HoR was convened on April 28,  2006 AD on the strength of the People's Movement with the participation of seven political parties agitating against autocracy and the then rebel Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). 

The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal was proclaimed on September 20,  2015 by the Constituent Assembly through epochal Constituent Assembly elections. 

Accordingly, the country is now in the practice of federalism after holding two elections at the federal, provincial and local levels. 

Meanwhile, extending best wishes on the occasion of Democracy Day, the leaders of political parties have stressed the need for all forces to unite for the prosperity of the country. It is noted that there cannot be another system of governance better than democracy, so there is an essence to focus all political power towards prosperity keeping this in mind. 

Democracy Day has been observed annually since 2008 AD to commemorate the end of the direct and autocratic rule of the then king after the 2006 April Uprising. 

The government has decided to provide Rs 1 million each to the family of two people killed in the Tinkine incident. 

A Cabinet meeting held recently decided to provide Rs 1 million to the families of Sabin Maharjan and Suresh Rajak who died in the Tinkune incident on March 28,  Minister for Communications and Information Technology and government spokesperson Prithvi Subba Gurung said. 

Similarly, the government has decided to form a 15-member high-level governance reform commission under the leadership of the Prime Minister. 

Minister Gurung said that the government has decided to give consent to obtain a loan assistance of USD 100 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) for the implementation of an Electricity Transmission and Distribution Project and to form a negotiation team under the coordination of the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance to finalize the financial agreement related to the loan.

The government has decided to exempt the royalty for the mountaineering team comprising 10 mountaineers from the Indian Army and 13 from the Nepali Army going to climb Mount Kanchenjunga under the 'Joint Indo-Nepal Summit to Mt Kanchenjunga' program.

The Cabinet has decided to approve the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cultural Cooperation between the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

The government has decided to amend the existing organizational structure and posts of the Supreme Court and its subordinate bodies. 

Minister Gurung shared that a decision has been taken to approve the Foreign Aid Mobilization Policy, 2082, the Public Procurement (Fourteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2082.

Visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

During the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Singha Durbar, today, various aspects of mutual friendship between the two countries as well as of trade and investment were discussed.

Lauding the speedy progress achieved by the UAE in the development sector, Prime Minister Oli urged the Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah for investment in various sectors in Nepal including hydropower and green energy. 

Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah said that he would encourage entrepreneurs of the UAE for investment expansion in various sectors of Nepal including tourism, energy and agriculture.

Abdullah, who arrived here on Tuesday on a two-day visit, said the UAE was ready to sign a free trade agreement with Nepal.

US President Donald Trump says he has "no intention of firing" Jerome Powell after repeatedly criticising the head of the Federal Reserve, BBC reported.

But Trump added that he would like Powell to be "a little more active" when it comes to cutting interest rates.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, he also said he is optimistic about improving trade relations with China. 

Last week, the president intensified his criticism of the Fed chief, calling him "a major loser". The comments sparked a selloff of stocks, bonds and the US dollar, but financial markets have since been recovering from those losses, according to BBC.

Elon Musk says he’ll be spending less time in Washington slashing government costs and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits, Associated Press reported.

Musk said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday that “now that the major work of establishing Department of Government Efficiency is done,” that he will be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla” starting in May. Musk said he now expects to spend just “a day or two per week on government matters”

Tesla struggled to sell vehicles as it faced angry protests over Musk’s leadership of DOGE, a jobs-cutting group that has divided the country. The Austin, Texas, company reported a 71% drop in profits and a 9% decline in revenue for the first quarter, according to the Associated Press.

Paris St Germain had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Nantes on Tuesday, keeping the Ligue 1 champions on course to become the first team to go unbeaten through an entire season in the French top flight, Reuters reported.

The stalemate stretched PSG's unbeaten away league run to 39 matches, beating the long-standing record across Europe's top five leagues set by AC Milan between 1991 and 1993.

"It's important to talk about this record and the players from that era. We are at Milan's level. We're talking about the record for unbeaten away games," PSG coach Luis Enrique said, according to Reuters.

Barcelona's Dani Olmo scored inside the first minute of the second half to earn a hard-fought 1-0 home win against Mallorca on Tuesday, extending their lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table to seven points with five games to go, Reuters reported.

Barca dominated proceedings despite coach Hansi Flick deciding to rest several key starters ahead of Saturday's Copa del Rey final against rivals Real, but Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Roman put on a show between the posts to keep them at bay.

Barca finally managed to break the deadlock shortly after the interval thanks to a fine piece of individual skill from Olmo, who took the ball in a tight space inside the box and quickly fired a left-foot shot into the bottom corner before Mallorca's defenders could challenge him.

The win lifted Barca to 76 points at the top of the LaLiga standings with Real, who visit Getafe on Wednesday, seven points adrift with a game in hand, according to Reuters.

Noting that currently there is partial impact of local and westerly winds in the country, the Hydrology and Meteorological Forecasting Division said the country's weather will remain fair today. 

According to the Division, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki and Karnali Provinces and fair in the rest of the country this afternoon. 

Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at one or two places of the hilly regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces. 

Similarly, light rain and snowfall is likely to occur at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki and Karnali Provinces.. 

The weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces and fair in the rest of the country tonight. 

Light rain and snowfall is likely to occur at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces.