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Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said Nepal and China had in 2019 signed the agreement on a 'Boundary Management System' to reopen the 14 border points along the Nepal-China border serving as the traditional trade points.  Urai Bhanjyang pass in Bajhang is one of the 14 transit points. 

In his reply to a query from Bhanubhakta Joshi in a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today, the Prime Minister said the regulations about providing China entry pass for Nepali citizens of districts adjoining China have been implemented. 

Coordination with the bodies concerned and the efforts at the diplomatic level continue to operate the Urai Bhanjyang. 

Entertaining the legislator's advice to provide services relating to roadways, drinking water, irrigation, river management and infrastructure management in an integrated way, he said local levels have launched an integrated system for some services.  

The government is undertaking continuous efforts to assure that job opportunities are available within the country, the Prime Minister said, adding that the five-year strategic plan has been implemented to develop entrepreneurship and internal employment for building a decent job atmosphere in the country. 

The Vocational and Skill Development Training Academy has been established to offer vocational and skills enhancement training and to verify skills of foreign migrant returnees. 

The Prime Minister further added that 'Employment Programme', the government initiation aiming to guarantee minimum job opportunities, around 800,000 (listed as unemployed) have got employment to date since  the fiscal year 2075/76 ( 2018-19).

The "Internal Employment Promotion Decade" has been announced with an objective of enhancing internal employment opportunities.

This initiation is expected to encourage youths to engage in employment and self-employment activities within the home, according to the Prime Minister. 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the government was making efforts so that the report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) jointly formed by Nepal and India would be accepted through the understanding of both sides.

During a question and answer session with the Prime Minister at today's meeting of the House of Representatives, he said the EPG report would be accepted with the understanding and consensus of both the countries.

Responding to the question of lawmaker Buddhiman Tamang, PM Oli said that the issue was raised at the highest level of the Indian government in the previous meetings regarding acknowledging the EPG report.

He said diplomatic initiatives were being taken in other contexts.

The Prime Minister stated that the EPG group had agreed before to submit its report first to the Prime Minister of India and then only to the Prime Minister of Nepal.

"We will work towards both sides' accepting this report through an understanding," he reiterated.

Replying to a question on the issue of Nepal's revised 'pointed' map, he said that the map of the territory under Nepal's control before 1962 AD which is reflected in the current revised map is the reality.

"Until 1960, the map of the country was the same as it is now, but it was changed after that. Nepal's Coat-of-Arms in Schedule 3 of the Constitution was updated through the second amendment to the Constitution on June 18, 2020," he said.

Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak has said that housing would be provided to the people of Bagmati and Koshi Provinces, which were affected by the floods last September.

After the 30th meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Executive Committee held here today, he said permanent and temporary shelters would be constructed as per the need after analyzing the damage caused by floods, landslides and inundation.

He said that the decision on how the state could help in the construction of private houses would be taken on the basis of the situation in the affected areas.

In the meeting, the concerned bodies have been instructed to be prepared to control all types of risks from disasters in the coming days, stressing on the need to work in a coordinated manner among all the agencies in the government.

Stating that offices have been established in Doti, Achham and Jajarkot districts to collect complete details of the damage caused by the earthquake and to coordinate the reconstruction works and helping out the victims, Home Minister Lekhak said that the construction of permanent houses has started in the places where the damage has been analyzed.

Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel, Home Secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi and other high-ranking government officials were present in the meeting.

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.

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.

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.  
 

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.

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.