Light snowfall likely in mountainous region
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said that there are chances of light snowfall at some places of the country today.
There will be partly cloudy weather in the mountainous region of Koshi Province this afternoon with chances of light snowfall at one or two places, the Department said.
However, the weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly region with possibility of light rain, thunder and lightning at one or two places.
The Terai region in Madhes Province will possibly have fair weather today.
It will be partly cloudy in the mountainous region of Bagmati Province.
The weather will be partly cloudy in the mountainous region of Gandaki Province with chances of light snowfall at one or two places.
According to the Department, there is a possibility of light snowfall in one or two places of the mountainous region and partly cloudy in the hilly region of Karnali Province.
There is also the possibility of light rain accompanied by thunder and lightning at one or two places in the province.
There is a possibility of partly cloudy weather in the mountainous and hilly regions of Sudurpaschim Province.
Secondary Education Exam begins today (With photos)
The Secondary Education Exam has begun throughout the country from Thursday.
The Office of the Controller of Examinations of the National Examination Board informed that the SEE will be conducted across the country through 2,079 examination centers.
As per the schedule, examination of compulsory English, compulsory Sanskrit and compulsory Arabic language subjects will be conducted on the first day today.
A total of 514,071 students will appear in SEE this year.
Last year, a total of 464,785 students appeared in the examination.
The SEE beginning today will conclude on April 1.
The exam will be held from 8 am to 11 am.
School building built in Makwanpur under India’s financial assistance inaugurated
Lalit Bahadur Ghalan, Chief, District Coordination Committee, Makwanpur and Shri Basist Nandan, First Secretary, Embassy of India, Kathmandu jointly inaugurated the School Building of Shree Janakalyan Secondary School, Makawanpur built with Government of India’s financial assistance at the project cost of Rs 30 million under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation'.
Political representatives, government officials, social workers and teachers of the school, students and their parents were also present on this occasion.
The Government of India’s grant under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’ was utilized for the construction of the school building and other allied facilities.
The project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) and was implemented through District Coordination Committee, Makawanpur, reads a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Shree Janakalyan Secondary School was established in the year 1968 as a primary school and was further upgraded to a higher secondary school in the year 1985. This school has around 850 students, 54% of whom are girls.
The Chief, District Coordination Committee, Makawanpur, Chairperson, School Management and other stakeholders appreciated the developmental support being provided by the Government of India to the people of Nepal.
They expressed confidence that the infrastructure created would help provide better education to the students of Shree Janakalyan Secondary School in Makawanpur. It would also help create an improved environment for learning and contribute to the overall development of the education sector in the region, according to the statement.
As close neighbours, India and Nepal are engaged in wide-ranging and multi-sectoral cooperation.
The implementation of HICDPs reflects the continued support of the Government of India in bolstering the efforts of the Government of Nepal in growth and development of its people by augmenting infrastructure in priority sectors.
Putin agrees in Trump call to pause Ukraine energy attacks but no full ceasefire
President Vladimir Putin has rejected an immediate and full ceasefire in Ukraine, agreeing only to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, following a call with US President Donald Trump, BBC reported.
The Russian leader declined to sign up to the comprehensive month-long ceasefire that Trump's team recently worked out with Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
He said a comprehensive truce could only work if foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine came to an end. Ukraine's European allies have previously rejected such conditions.
US talks on Ukraine are due to continue on Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said.
In the grinding three-year war, Russia has recently been taking back territory in its Kursk region that was occupied by a Ukrainian incursion six months ago.
The results of Tuesday's Trump-Putin call amount to a retreat in the US position from where it stood a week ago, although the two leaders did agree that further peace talks would take place immediately in the Middle East.
When a US delegation met Ukrainian counterparts in Jeddah last Tuesday, they convinced Kyiv to agree to their proposal for an "immediate" 30-day ceasefire, across land, air and sea.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Helsinki, Finland, for an official visit on Tuesday shortly after Trump and Putin's call ended, said Ukraine was open to the idea of a truce covering energy infrastructure, but wanted more details first.
He later accused Putin of rejecting a ceasefire following a barrage of Russian drone attacks.
Among the places targeted was a hospital in Sumy, and power supplies in Slovyansk, said Ukraine's leader.
"Unfortunately, there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure," Zelensky said on X. "Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire."
Trump posted earlier on social media that his call with the Russian leader was "very good and productive" and that "many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed".
"We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine," the US president said on Truth Social, according to BBC.
About 80% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian bombs, Zelensky said last September.
Kyiv has in turn conducted drone and missile strikes deep into Russian territory, on oil and gas facilities.
Following last week's talks in Jeddah, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said "the ball" was in Russia's court, after the Ukrainians accepted Washington's proposal for a full ceasefire.
But the White House's statement following the Trump-Putin call on Tuesday made no reference to that agreement with Kyiv.
It instead said the two leaders agreed that "the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire", followed by negotiations over a "maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace".
But the Kremlin's own statement on the call noted what it said were a "series of significant issues" around enforcing any agreement with Kyiv. And it said the end of foreign support and intelligence for Ukraine was a "key condition" for Russia.
Trump and Putin agreed to immediate technical-level talks towards a longer-term settlement, which the Kremlin said must be "complex, stable and long-term in nature".
But it's unclear if this means further negotiations between the US and Russia, or bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin also said Trump supported Putin's idea of holding ice hockey matches between professional US and Russian players.
Russia was frozen out of ice hockey events overseas after the country invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Kyiv will probably see the outcome of Tuesday's much-anticipated phone call as Putin playing for time, while he adds crippling conditions on any settlement.
Putin has previously insisted Russia should keep control of Ukrainian territory it has seized and has called for Western sanctions to be eased as part of any eventual peace settlement.
The Russian leader has already tasted Trump's readiness to cut off US support to Ukraine, and is trying to get him to repeat it - while tossing the ball back to Kyiv.
Earlier this month the US temporarily suspended military and intelligence aid to Ukraine after Trump and Zelensky had an altercation in the Oval Office, BBC reported.
Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance dressed down Zelensky in front of the world's media, accusing him of being ungrateful for American support.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday in Berlin with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the limited ceasefire plan was an important first step, but he again called for a complete ceasefire.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Zelensky after the Trump-Putin call and "reiterated [the] UK's unwavering support", a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
Country's hilly regions to see partial change in weather
Currently there is a partial influence of westerly wind with local wind in the country.
The weather, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, is partly cloudy in the hilly region and fair in the rest of the country.
The Division further shared that the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces and partly cloudy in the rest of the country.
Light rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at one or two places of the hilly regions of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces and light snowfall at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous region.
Similarly, the weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly regions of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces tonight.
In the next 24 hours, there are chances of light rain with thunder and lightning at one or two places of the hilly regions of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces.
Also the light snowfall is likely to occur at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous regions.
First 'Pokhara-Chengdu' commercial flight launched
The commercial charter flight has been operated from Pokhara International Airport to Chengdu in Sichuan Province of China for the first time.
Two years after the inauguration of the airport, the first commercial charter flight took place from Pokhara to Chengdu on Tuesday.
The first-ever Pokhara-Chengdu commercial flight was operated under the leadership of Pokhara Tourism Council in collaboration with Pokhara Metropolitan City, Chinese Embassy in Nepal, Sichuan Airlines and Chinese Association in Nepal.
It may be noted that it was materialized after continuous efforts from different fronts, including the private sector for international flights from the Pokhara International Airport.
Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya, Pokhara Tourism Council Chair Taranath Pahari, Nepal Tourism Board Gandaki Province Chief Maniraj Lamichhane, Pokhara Visit Year-2025 Performance Committee Coordinator Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai and a 126-member team of tourism entrepreneurs and media persons have come to Chengdu to promote tourism.
Nepali Consul General to China Suresh Raut, high-ranking officials of Sichuan Province and representatives of Sichuan Airlines, among others, welcomed the Pokharel team at Chengdu Airport.
On the occasion, Mayor Acharya said that the first commercial charter flight has been made with the continuous efforts of the Metropolitan City, Pokhara Tourism Council at a time when international flights could not be operated from Pokhara International Airport. The Chinese Embassy also held discussions on 'B2B' between tourism entrepreneurs of the two countries regarding tourism development of Pokhara.
The Pokhara International Airport was inaugurated on January 1, 2023.
Minister Rana holds talks with Ukranian counterpart, calls for release of Nepali POWs
Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba held a bilateral meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in New Delhi today on the sidelines of the 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue 2025 organized by the Ministry of External Affairs, India.
During the meeting, the two leaders discussed ways for further strengthening Nepal-Ukraine relations and promoting cooperation, according to Minister Rana's Private Secretariat.
Minister Rana urged Ukraine to facilitate the release and repatriation of seven Nepali citizens held as Prisoners of War by Ukrainian soldiers.
According to her, although Nepal has no policy to allow its citizens to join the Russian army, it was later learned that Nepalis were recruited in the Russian army through human traffickers.
In response, Sybiha expressed his commitment to release the Nepali prisoners of war after completing the necessary legal process.
Similarly, Foreign Minister Rana sought the Ukrainian government's support in Nepal's candidacy for membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2027 to 2029.
Meanwhile, both nations signed an agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, official and service passports.
Messi out of Argentina's next World Cup qualifiers
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has not been included in Argentina's squad for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil, BBC reported.
The 37-year-old returned to Miami's starting line-up for their Major League Soccer win over Atlanta United but picked up an injury during Sunday's game.
Inter later confirmed the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has a "low-grade" injury to his adductor muscle.
Messi was rested for three Miami games before coming off the bench and scoring in last week's Concacaf Champions Cup win at Jamaican side Cavalier.
Messi said in a story on Instagram that it was a "shame to miss two such such special qualification games".
"I wanted to be there as always but at the last minute, a minor injury forced me to take a break before playing again," he said.
"But I'll be supporting and cheering from here like a fan."
Argentina can secure qualification for next year's World Cup in this round of games as the holders visit Uruguay and host Brazil, according to BBC.
They lead South America's 10-team qualifying group by five points from Uruguay with six games remaining, with Brazil seven points adrift in fifth.
The top six qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup while the seventh-placed team goes into a play-off.
After 12 rounds, Messi is the top scorer with six goals, taking his overall tally to 112 from 191 international appearances.
Argentina will also be without injured Roma striker Paulo Dybala and River Plate full-back Gonzalo Montiel.
Brazil will be without Messi's former Barcelona team-mate Neymar as a thigh injury has denied the Santos forward, 33, a return to the national team.
