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Lawmakers have drawn the attention of the government to take concrete steps to address the problems of the loan shark victims. They were speaking in today's meeting of the House of Representatives. Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Manish Jha demanded that the government resolve their problems at the earliest. He referred to a woman victimized by loan sharking reached Kathmandu, the federal capital, on foot carrying her child, all the way from Siraha to join a protest against loan sharking. It took her 13 days to reach Kathmandu. He blamed the local and central governments for failure to give justice to them. "The state should seek ways to resolve these problems. Why is the central bank not able to stop such activities?" he wondered. Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairperson Rajendra Prasad Lingden urged the resolution of loan sharking victims immediately. He also drew the attention of the government to resolve the issue that followed the naming of Province 1 as 'Koshi Province'. Janata Samajwadi Party's Ranju Kumari Jha demanded the formation of a parliamentary committee to address problems of the loan shark victims. She also drew the attention of the concerned authority to the incidents wherein airhostesses have become victim of sexual violence. People are forced to take loans at exorbitant rates of interest as bank loans are not easily available, according to him who sees the need of a substantive law to prevent anomalies in the disbursement of loans by microfinances and banks. Nepal Workers and Peasants' Party lawmaker Prem Suwal said the ministers so far should be held accountable for pushing the nation's economy to the current situation. He apprised the House that an oncology device at the Bir Hospital needed to be repaired for a long. As he said, the protest against the naming of Koshi Province could be resolved through dialogues. CPN (UML)'s Shobha Gyawali expressed her concern over the rising cases of human-animal conflict in settlements near the National Park in Bardiya. "Animals from the park allegedly attack two-three locals daily. They have also largely damaged crops. So, I thereby demand the government ensure the construction of a cemented boundary wall on the edge of the park for the protection of settlement. Pradip Poudel of the Nepali Congress Drew the government's attention towards addressing the demands of those affected by loansharking. "They are completed to visit Kathmandu calling for justice. I heard that more are coming to join them.  Their issues should be heard and addressed. Denial to justice is not acceptable."  He asserted that loansharking should be treated as a serious offense. Demanding time in the session, CPN (UML)'s Raghuji Pant expressed his concern over a change in meeting agenda without any preparations and prior information. Why was a bill which was said to be presented in the session removed from the agenda, he questioned.

The Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has urged visitors to the temple not to carry plastic materials, bearing in mind the increasing environmental pollution around the temple area. The Trust today issued a notice informing the public about its decision to ban plastic materials on the temple premises from today, citing it as a major cause of increasing pollution in the temple area. It has sought the cooperation from all to implement the decision. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation's three-month long weekly cleanliness campaign is underway in the Pashupati area.  

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has announced a 21-member preliminary team for the ACC Men's Premier Cup tournament scheduled to take place in Nepal from April 18 to May 1. The selected team members are Sandeep Lamichhane, Gyanendra Malla, Aarif Shekh, Kushal Bhurtel, Bhim Sarki, Aasif Shekh, Pratish GC, Lalit Rajbanshi, Rohit Paudel and Sandip Jora. Likewise, other members are Sompal Kami, Kishor Mahato, Kushal Malla, Shyam Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee, Dipendra Singh Airee, Arjun Saud, Gulshan Jha, Surya Tamang, Karan KC and Dev Khanal. Organized by the Asian Cricket Council, various 10 countries will participate in the tournament that will take place at Kirtipur-based Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground and Mulpani Cricket Ground. The participating teams have been divided into two groups. Nepal is placed in Group 'A' alongside Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar and Oman. Similarly, Kuwait, Bahrain, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates are grouped 'B'. Nepal will take on Malaysia in the opening match. The winner will qualify for the Asia Cup to be held in Pakistan in September.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has urged honorary consular generals and consulates from various countries to work keeping the interests of the nation at the center. During a meeting with honorary consular generals and consulates at Sheetal Niwas this morning, the President was of the view that honorary consular generals and consulates were expected to contribute to strengthening bilateral relations by promoting the interests of the nation. Dinesh Shrestha, on behalf of consuls, apprised the President that they were dedicated to strengthening socio-economic and cultural relations with the respective countries and also the promotion of Nepal's tourism. The delegation congratulated Paudel on his election to the post of President and wished him a successful term.  

Wool of Himalayan goats – the raw material of Pashmina – is being collected for quality tests in Mustang. The International Trade Centre is testing wool quality in Nepal for the first time in coordination with international pashmina experts, national agriculture research council, Nepal Pashmina Industries Association and Mountain Goat Pashmina Farmers Association. Vice-Chairperson of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association Dhan Prasad Lamichhane said the collected wool samples would be sent to the internationally- accredited lab and the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology for testing its commercial quality and standards. "We are collecting 800 samples of wool extracted from mountain goats being reared in Lomanthang, Loghekar Damodarkunda, Waragung Muktichhetra and Gharpajhong Rural Municipalities", he said, adding sample wool would be taken out from mountain goats of different colour, age and species reared by 160 farmers of the four rural municipalities. Nine trained professionals have been mobilized to extract wool from mountain goats in the presence of the representatives from the Association, NARC and international trade center. "The quality of Pashmina affects its market price", said Sichan Shrestha, specialist of International Trade Centre, adding, "There may be variation in the quality of wool of Mustang. The quality testing would help develop the breed of mountain goats, carry out research in the field and expand international marketing of wool. The wool sample collection being done in Mustang for the first time would help spell out the quality of pashmina obtained from mountain goats; it is claimed. "Pashmina obtained from Chyangra is considered to be of good quality. But official study was not undertaken taking this aspect into consideration", NARC official said. "This would help design a breed development program based on the research", the official added. As many as 52,00 mountain goats are being reared in Mustang.

A meeting of the ruling alliance is scheduled for Tuesday. A meeting of top leaders of the ruling alliance parties held at the official residence of the Prime Minister at Baluwatar today agreed to summon the meeting of the ruling alliance on Tuesday at 4 pm, said Manahari Timilsina, Press Expert of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chair Dahal, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Chairperson of the CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal were present in today’s meeting. Discussion would be held on different issues including cabinet expansion in the meeting scheduled for tomorrow, it is said. Although it was said that the net would be expanded today, it is delayed as parties associated to ruling alliance failed to forge consensus in this regard. NC, CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, among other parties are the members of the ruling alliance.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has said politics should be guided by service motive towards the society and people. He said so while speaking at a program to unveil a bust of Nepali Congress leader and former Minister late Nabindra Raj Joshi, constructed at Yatkha Kumari Temple premises of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-19, on the second memorial day. The Head-of-State stressed that politics should be motivated by the highest determination, commitment and dedication to serve the people understanding their joy and sorrow along with continuous closeness. President Paudel shared, "Late Joshi was a personality who had a close relation with the people and had understood their joy and sorrow." The untimely demise of Joshi is an irreparable loss to the country, Nepal's democratic movement, the party, Joshi family and himself, he mentioned. The President expressed the view that Joshi was successful to build an image of a simple, honest, friendly, helpful and capable politician, adding good moral and honesty were the characteristics of late Joshi. "I got the opportunity to not only know and understand Nabindra from close quarters but also as a guardian to show the way all through his life to always motivate him towards building a a conscious, enthusiastic and conscientious personality by providing him suggestions, support and cooperation," the President said. He opined that installation of Joshi's statue will always keep alive the contribution he made for the country and people, inform the future generations of an honest and good leader and encourage them to carry out moral deeds. Nepali Congress leader and former Deputy Prime Minister, Prakash Man Singh remembered Joshi as a person who practiced the politics of values and principles for bringing change in the country. "Nabindra was the person who waged a struggle through the Nepal Students Union for reinstating the rights that were hijacked in 1960," Singh said. Joshi's spouse and lawmaker Sapana Rajbhandari expressed the commitment to work for fulfilling the political goal adopted by the late leader. She believed that the construction of the statue will keep Joshi alive. President Paudel also garlanded the statue of Nirgun Sthapitm, a martyr of the 1990 People's Movement, on the occasion. Born on January 6, 1963, Joshi died on March 26, 2021. He was the Constituent Assembly member, Minister for Industry, deputy mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, founding president of Ganeshman Singh Study Foundation. He was also associated with various social organizations.

There will be partial to normal change in the weather in hilly areas of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces this afternoon. This is due to the general influence of westerly winds along with local winds in the country, according to the Hydrology and Weather Forecasting Division. Furthermore, there is a possibility of light rain with lightning in a few places in the hilly areas of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces and one or two places in the rest of the hilly areas of the country. Later tonight, there is a possibility of light rain with lightning at one or two places in the hilly areas of Koshi and Gandaki provinces. The hilly areas of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces are likely to experience light rainfall on Monday as well.