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Rastriya Swatantra Party President and former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has been arrested on Friday.

Lamichhane was apprehended after the Kaski District Court issued an arrest warrant against him this afternoon.

After the arrest, the police are preparing to take Lamichhane to Pokhara today itself.

Prior to the arrest, Lamichhane organized a press conference and said that he had been framed by the state.

The Parliamentary Special Committee on Cooperatives had recommended action against four persons including the then Managing Director of Gorkha Media Lamichhane.

Lamichhane was arrested on the basis of the same.

The Committee had recommended action against Gorkha Media Network Chairman GB Rai, the then Managing Director Lamichhane, member Kumar Ramtel and director Chhabiraj Joshi for misappropriating the funds of the cooperative.

Among them, police have arrested Joshi and is carrying out investigation while Ramtel is also in police custody.

The Committee concluded that the money of the depositors in the cooperative was transferred illegally to the account of Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd and Lamichhane was also found involved in it.

The Committee made a conclusion that the funds of nine cooperatives across the country were embezzled in the Gorkha Media Network.

According to the report, the money of Suryadarshan of Pokhara, Supreme of Butwal, Swarnalakshmi of Kathmandu, Sahara of Chitwan, Sanopaila of Birganj was embezzled in the Gorkha Media Network.

Similarly, it has been mentioned in the report that funds of Image, Samana, Sumeru and IME were also misappropriated in the Gorkha Media Network.

The Committee has recommended to the government that the director of the cooperatives and everyone involved in the decision-making process should be sent to the concerned authorities for action.

The Committee has also directed the government to immediately arrest Gitendra Babu, GB Rai, Than Bahadur Budha Magar, Dinesh Rokka, Sagar KC, Pichkan Khatun, Bhupendra Rai, who are on the run.

The Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has so far paid back Rs 6. 32 billion of the loan it had taken for purchasing aircraft for international flights.

The national flag-carrier had taken loan from the Employees Provident Fund and Citizens Investment Trust for the two narrow-body and two wide-body aircraft that it purchased, NAC said in a press release.

NAC spokesperson Ramesh Poudel said the airlines on October 16 paid Rs 530. 95 million that included the full installment for the two narrow-body aircraft for the month of Asoj and the part installment for two wide-body.

The NAC has urged the Fund and the Trust to grant concession on the interest and penalty during the COVID-19 period and to facilitate in the loan payment by increasing the number of installments, as there was adverse impact on the airline's business during that period.

A Bangladeshi court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was removed from power in August after a nationwide student protest in Bangladesh, news agency AFP reported.

"The court has ordered the arrest of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and for her to appear in court on November 18," stated Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal. During

The former PM fled to India and has not been publicly seen since fleeing Bangladesh. Her last official whereabouts were at a military airbase near India's capital New Delhi.

According to the news agency, an arrest warrant was issued against Hasina for charges of crimes against humanity. During Hasina's 15-year rule, there were reports of widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

"Sheikh Hasina was at the helm of those who committed massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity from July to August", Islam added.

Prosecutor B.M. Sultan Mahmud said the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the country's interim leader, issued the arrest warrants in response to two petitions submitted by the prosecution.

The court also issued an arrest warrant for Obaidul Quader, the fugitive former general secretary of Hasina's Awami League party, as well as 44 others, who were not named.

Dozens of Hasina's allies were taken into custody after her regime collapsed, accused of culpability in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that deposed her.

Former cabinet ministers and other senior members of her Awami League party have been arrested, and her government's appointees were purged from courts and the central bank. AFP

Top leaders of the three major political parties, including Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli, discussed ways to forward the remaining tasks of the peace process immediately.

The meeting held today at the Prime Minister's residence, Baluwatar, held discussions on the completion of the peace process.

According to Deputy General Secretary of CPN (Maoist Center) Shakti Bahadur Basnet, the leaders agreed to appoint officials to the TJ commissions who understand the spirit of peace process and legal provision as well. "A discussion was held on finalizing the recommendation committee within few days.

After the recommendation committee is formed, the officials will appointed to the commission", Basnet shared following the meeting.

A recommendation committee has been formed by the previous government to constitute the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappeared Persons.

On August 29, the bill amending the laws related to both commissions was certificated by the President.

Along with Prime Minister Oli, President of Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chair of CPN (Maoist Center) and former Prime Minister of Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Deputy General Secretary of CPN (Maoist Centre) Basnet and Attorney General Ramesh Badal were present in the meeting. 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Arzu Rana Deuba has said it is obvious that the least developed and mountainous countries like Nepal are facing severe and disproportionate impacts of climate change.

"But the global climate agenda and climate processes are yet to sufficiently reflect the plight of developing and mountainous countries," she said while attending wrap up of New York Times- Nepal Republic Media Climate Conclave as the Chief Guest today.

The event was held with the theme of ‘The call of Mt. Everest for Global Climate Action’ and the Minister expressed accolades to the organizers also for choosing to highlight a theme that has threatened the very existence of planet and the humanity.

The theme embodies the clarion call from both a least developed and a mountainous nation for commensurate climate action and climate justice, she said. "We are talking about climate crisis today on the heels of catastrophic floods and landslides that devastated central region of Nepal barely a month ago," the Foreign Minister said, adding that these disasters were evidently the result of an extreme weather event, as the rainfall in many places during the fateful three days amounted to as much as half of the total rainfall Nepal receives throughout the monsoon.

She appraised the gathering that as a result of such disasters, Nepal had to bear a tragic loss of more than 250 lives, in addition to the same number of people in the preceding period of the rainy season. "We are yet to fully appraise the damage to our roads, bridges, hydroelectricity projects, and other public and private property," the Minister added.

She went on to say that scientific community, in particular through the IPCC reports, has unanimously attested that such extreme weather and climate events are caused by global warming and climate change. "It is a matter of gross injustice to Nepal, and similar other nations, with a negligible contribution to Global greenhouse gas emissions to be the victims of such climate disasters." Reminding the assessment of UN Secretary General António Guterres that ‘terrible impact of the climate crisis in the Himalayas’ during his visit to Nepal last October, the Foreign Affairs Minister said this assessment was based on his tour to the Everest and Annapurna Regions, where he witnessed the grim realities of unfolding crisis in the mountain lives and ecosystem. "At this juncture, I recall and re-emphasize his urgent appeal to the international community to ‘move forward with climate action’. "I also echo the distinguished speakers’ call this morning for the urgent need of climate justice.

The developed countries, whose actions precipitated the climate crisis, must provide adequate resources, technology and other supports to the developing countries for their adaptation and resilience building." The promises, from the UNFCCC to the Paris Agreement to the annual CoPs, have been aplenty, but the delivery has been sorely wanting, the Minister said.

She stressed that all climate finance commitments must be met and up-scaled, keeping in mind the need to invest 5-7 trillion dollars annually to green the economy by 2030. "There must be adequate grant based and concessional resources for developing countries to meet their needs for adaptation and resilience building." She sought that all climate funds and facilities, including the loss damage fund that was operationalized from COP28, must be adequately capitalized and their resources should be easily accessible to the developing countries.

The upcoming COP29 in Baku should be an opportunity to take stock and to make concrete progress on all tracks of the climate agenda. For COP29, we are making preparations for effective participation by reiterating the concerns, needs and priorities of climate vulnerable countries, mountain countries and also as the chair of LDCs, the Minister apprised the gathering.

As she shared with them on the occasion, Nepal will underscore the need of easy, smooth, predictable and adequate access to climate finance for the most vulnerable and poor countries.

As underscored by the British Ambassador in today’s event, I agree on the need of collaboration between Global south and Global north to fight global warming and climate change and to ensure climate justice. In particular, without the generous resource and technological support of the north, the countries in the south will not able to weather this crisis, she said. "I also appreciate the New York Times for its extensive coverage on the climate change issues.

Stephen’s made an insightful analysis on the implications of climate change in the global economy, energy transformation, and society and world order as a whole. I believe that the role of media is crucial in the internationalization as well as raising awareness regarding the intensifying climate change impacts and incorporating the voice of the voiceless," she stated. She added that in the COP28 last year in United Arab Emirates, Nepal promoted the mountain agenda to bring awareness of the impacts of climate change in the mountain ecosystem and communities.

Turning to our national plans, the recently implemented 16th Development plan of Nepal includes internationalization of the issues of climate change as an important policy strategy and has prioritised climate diplomacy.

It incorporates programmes to enhance access to climate financing to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation plans to meet our financial and technological gaps, according to Minister Rana. "Similarly, we are committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emission by 2045.We are utilizing our vast hydropower potentials to secure clean energy and have already reached 45 percent forest cover in our total area. Global warming and climate change transcend borders, and yet their effects and impacts have varied across regions," she said.

That is why, the Government of Nepal decided in April 2019 to organise Sagarmatha Sambad, a forum meant to discuss on the most pertinent issues of the time in the fields of environment, economy, and other socio-cultural fields.

However, we have not been successful to organise one due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other pressing issues since then. Now, we are working to organise this dialogue in 2025. "Finally, let me reiterate that the discussions today were lively and enlightening with strong call for the global climate action. I believe that they will be really helpful as we prepare for the COP29 as well as in our climate negotiations. I wish that such discussions were held more frequently and that our problems and challenges get the limelight they deserve," she concluded.

More than 237,000 people traveled by air through the Tribhuvan International Airport during the five days of Badadashain festival.

According to the statistics of the TIA office, 160,910 people traveled through the domestic terminal while 78,512 people flew to and from the international terminal of the airport from Phulpati to Duwadashi, i.e. from October 10 to 14.

A total of 2,159 domestic flights and 781 international flights took place on the seven days of Dashain, i.e. from October 10 to 16, said TIA spokesperson Rinji Sherpa.

Due to the increase in the number of both domestic and international flights at the TIA, the domestic as well as international terminal building of the airport was crowded with passengers.

According to the airport office, air flights are becoming normal now. –––

Five dead bodies of the Russian climbers which were retrieved from the Dhaulagiri Peak here earlier today have been transported to Kathmandu by air.

District Police Office Myagdi's Chief Deputy Superintendent of Police, Bharat Shrestha, said the lifeless bodies were collected from an altitude of 7,100 metres of the world's seventh-highest peak (8,167 metres).

A team of Sherpas led by Mingma Sherpa, the proprietor of Seven Summit Treks, Kathmandu picked up the bodies with the help of a high-altitude helicopter and brought them down to the Italian Base Camp of the peak before sending them to the TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj for postmortem.

The climbers had spent a night at the base camp before their ascent. They lost contact with authorities at 11:00 am on October 7 while at an altitude of 7,600 metres on the peak that is located at the Dhawalagiri municipality-14.

They were confirmed dead on October 9.

The expedition was organized by IAM Trekking & Expedition for a total of 14 climbers, but nine decided to cancel their trip midway.

Shrestha said the site is challenging for helicopter landings and cannot be reached on foot. -----

National Assembly (NA) Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal and Swiss National Council's President Eric Nussbaumer held a bilateral meeting in Geneva, Switzerland today.

The meeting took place during NA Chairperson Dahal's participation in the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Switzerland.

During the meeting, they discussed further enhancing bilateral and economic relations between the two countries as well as addressing the international issues and bolstering multilateral cooperation, according to Federal Parliament's Secretariat.

On the occasion, Dahal expressed gratitude on the behalf of Nepali people towards the Swiss government for its important support in Nepal's peace process and conflict management.

Mentioning the common viewpoint that both countries had been upholding in various international multilateral forums such as the United Nations and IPU, he articulated Nepal's readiness for further strengthening the mutual interests and friendly ties between Nepal and Switzerland in bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, the Secretariat said.

Noting Switzerland's exemplary practice of democracy and federalism, he said that Nepal seeks to learn from these practices and further strengthen democracy and democratic institutions.

He highlighted the commitment of government of Nepal towards principle of inclusiveness to ensure participation of marginalized communities in the State apparatus and appraised of the provision of at least 33 per cent participation of women in the federal parliament and province assembly and at least 41 per cent in local levels.

Reaffirming Nepal's commitment towards completing the remaining works of peace process, he said that Nepal was moving towards the goal of sustainable peace, stability and development. "We expect the Swiss government's significant support to conclude the peace process in Nepal," he appealed.

Dahal also informed that the Federal Parliament had formed Nepal-Switzerland Parliamentary Friendly Group, opening the door for the parliaments of the both countries to exchange their experiences, knowledge and support.

Acknowledging Switzerland as one of the important development partners of Nepal, he expressed his gratitude to the government of Switzerland and Swiss citizens for their continuous development assistance.

Likewise, Swiss National Council's President Nussbaumer discussed the strong ties sharing Nepal and Switzerland and expressed his happiness to hold a meeting with his Nepali counterpart, the Secretariat said. Congratulating Nepal for introducing a legislation aimed at transitional justice, President Nussbaumer expressed Switzerland's readiness to assist in its implementation.

He also lauded Nepal for adopting federal governance system through the provision in new constitution, and pledged Swiss government's support in implementation of federalism.

In recognition to the potential of tourism in Nepal, Nussbaumer vowed utmost assistance from the Swiss government in tourism promotion of Nepal.