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Manjit Ram, a reporter with Radio Nepal from Mahottari district, was attacked on Monday.

Ram was assaulted at his residence in Sonama Rural Municipality-5.

A person from the same community Kunja Bihari Yadavi and his family members barged into journalist Ram's home and beat him up severely.

The incident has been condemned from various sides, including media houses and journalists' associations.

The central committee of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), FNJ province committee, FNJ district committee, Press Union district committee and Press Centre Nepal district committee issued separate press statements and condemned the incident, saying that journalist Ram was tortured, beaten up and injured.

In the statements, they said it was deplorable to assault the journalist. It violated press freedom and discouraged journalists and the media fraternity. Anyone involved in the attack must be booked and journalists ensured safety and justice.

They also wished speedy recovery to the journalist who has been receiving treatment at the Provincial Hospital, Jaleshwor.

Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Santulal Prasad Jaiswal, informed that after the health report of the injured journalist is issued, police will intensify investigation.

Search for those involved in the attack is on, he added.

An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale struck western belt of Nepal this morning.

The National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center informed that it recorded the magnitude 4.3 earthquake having its epicenter at Batulasain of Achham district at 6:33am.

Earlier, on March 8, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the country. It had the epicenter at Khungkhani area of Baglung district.

Nabaraj Subedi, a Panchayat-era leader who also is the coordinator of the recently-formed Joint People’s Movement Committee for the restoration of the monarchy, announced that he will no longer remain a general member of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). Eighty-six years old Subedi, who is regarded as a close ally of former King Gyanendra Shah, made this statement during a press conference following a gathering of pro-monarchy supporters in Kathmandu on Monday.

“I will no longer be a general member of the RPP starting today. I am working toward bringing back the monarchy,” Subedi declared. He stressed that political parties should work together to run the state effectively. Subedi elaborated that the ‘New Understanding’ is a concept where the monarchy would serve as a symbol of national peace, stability, social harmony, religion, culture, tradition, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He called the political parties to address this proposal promptly, warning that neglecting it would not be in line with Nepal’s past movements for change.

In a statement, Subedi emphasized that if pro-monarchy agendas were misunderstood or misinterpreted, it would come at a high cost. His demands include the restoration of the constitutional monarchy, re-establishment of the Hindu kingdom, the abolition of federalism, anti-corruption measures and good governance.

Drawing from the recent developments in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Syria, Subedi expressed concern that suppressing the voices of the people could lead to undesirable circumstances, as seen in those countries.  “We want to reiterate that we are proponents of peace and non-violence. We desire a monarchy based on the supremacy of the people. However, if our peaceful stance is seen as a weakness and our agendas are misinterpreted, resulting in major political parties retaliating, the consequences could be severe,” the statement warned.

Subedi’s ‘New Understanding’ envisions a peaceful transition through a constitutional monarchy that upholds national unity and integrity.

However, the effort to unite former monarchists under a single banner has not made much headway with intense disagreements among them over who should lead the movement. After the former King proposed the leadership of Subedi for the restoration of the monarchy, RPP leadership, the fifth largest party in the Parliament, indicated its rejection. In a central executive committee meeting called by RPP Chair Rajendra Lingden on Sunday, the majority of senior party leaders opposed the 86-year-old Subedi, whom the former king had endorsed.

Prof Dr Achyut Prasad Wagle has been appointed the Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University (KU).

Prime Minister and Chancellor of the University, KP Sharma Oli, appointed Dr Wagle to the post on Monday as per the Clause 13 (4) of the KU Act, 2048. The government had formed a three-member search committee for the recommendation of the VC in the university.

Born in Kavre district in 2025 BS, Prof Dr Wagle was the Acting Vice Chancellor and Registrar of the KU.

Prior to this, Dr Wagle worked as an Assistant Dean of School of Management and Adjunct Professor of the KU.

A PhD in Economics from Indian Institute of Technology in India, the newly-appointed VC holds MA from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and MSc from University of Birmingham, UK.

Also a columnist in the national media outlets, Dr Wagle worked as an advisor to the Prime Minister and the central bank's advisor in the past.

Dr Wagle has extensive experiences in the areas of business, environment, regional economy, fiscal federalism and entrepreneurship.

Deepak Thapa has been appointed as the Chief of Nepal Police.

A Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar on Monday decided to promote Thapa from the post of Additional Inspector General to Inspector General, said Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung.

The meeting also took the decision to appoint Dinesh Bhatta to the post of Executive Director of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).

Altogether 46 students including 41 as regular and five others for higher grade are taking their Secondary Education Examination (SEE) from Manang district.

The Lokpriya Secondary School in the district headquarters Chame is the only exam centre for the SEE, which is kicking off simultaneously across the country from March 20.

Of the four local levels in Manang, there is not even a single student sitting for the SEE from Narpabhumi Rural Municipality and Lokpriya Secondary School is fixed as the centre since it is an accessible location for the students from other three local levels in the district, Chief of Education Development and Coordination Unit in Manang Dhruba Prasad Koirala said.

This year the SEE is scheduled to begin on March 20 and conclude on April 1. The exam will be held from 8 am to 11 am. 

Nepali Congress lawmaker Krishna Prasad Sitaula has said that there should be no delay in amending the Constitution as per the requirement.

Speaking during the 'Special Time' in the meeting of the upper house of the Federal Parliament today, Sitaula said the implementation of the Constitution should be reviewed to take the country forward.

"How much have we achieved what have we given to the people through the implementation of the constitution? Let us seriously review whether we have been able to use it properly in the interest of the people or not,” he said.

Lawmaker Sitaula insisted that if there is any flaw in the State governance system or weakness in the Constitution it should be amended.

"It is necessary to review whether we have been able to implement the rights guaranteed in the constitution or not," he added.

Stressing on the need for completing the task of giving justice to the conflict victims at the earliest, he said: "Speedy justice needs to be delivered. We fought together (for the republic), reached an understanding, brought change and the constitution. Now we have to solve the problem together.”

Stating that the determination that should have been seen in the transformative political parties was not seen, he said the time has come for all to stand united.

Government's activities should be people-oriented: Lawmaker Aryal Similarly, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Urmila Aryal has said the government's activities should be people-oriented.

Saying that there has been disappointment among the people in the recent past as the government's activities have not been pro-people, she said the State should be aware of it.

According to her, although the Constitution was drafted with understanding to address the rights of all sections after the movement of 2006/2007, there was a challenge in effective implementation.

"We make promises when we form the government, but when we come to power, we all forget what we have promised to the people. The purpose with which the movement was made, it has not been implemented. The failure to implement these objectives has caused disappointment among the people," she pointed.

Aryal suggested the government to focus on how the common people get happiness instead of being power-oriented.

She said that the rights given by the constitution should be reviewed further. Emphasis on promotion of free, compulsory and universal education Maya Prasad Sharma has drawn the attention of the government to fulfill the demands of the agitating teachers, stressing on the promotion of free compulsory and accessible education.

He said that the right to compulsory education up to the basic level and the free education up to the secondary level has not been implemented.

Sharma said unity among the pro-republic parties was necessary for the implementation of the republic.

Tulasa Kumari Dahal said that remittances sent by workers going for foreign employment should be properly utilized and it is necessary to include these workers in the contribution-based social security fund.

She stressed on the need of creating employment in the country by keeping the economy active, promoting technical education, identifying agriculture and tourism sectors and creating an environment of employment.

Call for probe into Saurya Airlines crash

Ghanshyam Rijal demanded a fact-finding inquiry into the accident of Saurya Airlines that crashed in July last year.

"Eight months have passed by since the plane crashed, but we have not been able to prepare a report after investigating it. The relatives of the deceased are demanding an inquiry. I would like to draw the attention of the government to address their demands," he said.

Renu Chand also stressed that there should be no delay in investigating the Saurya Airlines plane crash. Krishna Bahadur Rokaya said the teachers were agitating and stressed the need of holding talks with them and fulfilling their demands.

Rukmini Koirala has objected to the idea of legalising sex trade, stating that some people were trying to establish a false narrative saying so.

Similarly, lawmakers Bishnu Kumari Sapkota, Bishnu Devi Pudasaini, Bishnu Bahadur Bishwakarma, Krishna Prasad Adhikari and Padam Bahadur Pariyar also raised various issues related to the development construction and people's livelihood. 

There is now a partial influence of a westerly low pressure system and local winds in the country.

According to the Weather Forecasting Division, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly region and partly cloudy in the rest of the country.

Light rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at a few places of the hilly region and at one or two places of the rest of the hilly regions of the Sudurpashchim and Karnali Provinces.

Light snowfall is likely to occur at a few places of the high hilly and mountainous region and at one or two places of the rest of the high hilly and mountainous regions of the two provinces.

In view of storms and its impacts in a few places of the Koshi and Madhes Provinces, the Division has urged the people to adopt safety measures.