Chinese, Taiwanese warships eye each other as drills due to end
Chinese and Taiwanese warships played high-seas "cat and mouse" on Sunday ahead of the scheduled end of four days of unprecedented Chinese military exercises launched in reaction to a visit to Taiwan by the US house speaker, Reuters reported.
Nancy Pelosi's visit last week to the self-ruled island infuriated China, which responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over the island's capital for the first time and the cutting of communication links with the United States.
Some 10 warships each from China and Taiwan sailed at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The island's defence ministry said in a release multiple Chinese military ships, aircraft, and drones were simulating attacks on the island and its navy. It said it had sent aircraft and ships to react "appropriately".
As Chinese forces "pressed" the line, as they did on Saturday, the Taiwan side stayed close to monitor and, where possible, deny the Chinese the ability to cross, the person said.
"The two sides are showing restraint, the person said, describing the manoeuvres as high seas "cat and mouse".
"One side tries to cross, and the other stands in the way and forces them to a more disadvantaged position and eventually return to the other side."
Taiwan said its shore-based anti-ship missiles and its Patriot surface -to-air-missiles were on stand-by.
The Chinese exercises, centred on six locations around the island that China claims as its own, began on Thursday and are scheduled to last until midday on Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported last week, according to Reuters.
China's military said on Saturday the sea and air joint exercises, north, southwest and east of Taiwan, had a focus on land-strike and sea-assault capabilities.
The United States called the exercises an escalation.
"These activities are a significant escalation in China's efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible and raise the risk of miscalculation," a White House spokesperson said.
"They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects."
Vice President Pun congratulates his Indian counterpart
Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has congratulated the newly-elected Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar and wished him a successful term in office.
In a message of best wishes sent to the Indian Vice President today, Vice President Pun has expressed the confidence that the multi-faceted relations between Nepal and India would be further strengthened and expanded during Vice President Dhankhar's tenure, according to Manoj Ghartimagar, the Vice President Pun's press coordinator.
Dhankhar is the 14th Vice President of India. He secured 528 votes out of the 710 valid votes in the 16th Vice-Presidential election held in the Indian Parliament on Saturday.
Bhattarai, Yadav picked as Chairpersons of Nepal Samajbadi Party
Baburam Bhattarai and Mahindra Raya Yadav have been picked as the Chairpersons of the newly-formed Nepal Samajbadi Party.
The party was formed after Dr Bhattarai led team quit the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), Nepal, some weeks ago.
The first meeting of the party held in Lalitpur on Saturday formed 189-member central committee, selecting Dr Bhattarai and Yadav as the chairpersons.
Ganga Narayan Shrestha is named as the party’s co-chair while Hisila Yami, Durga Sob and Bhakta Bahadur Shah are the vice-chairs.
Ramesh Prasad Yadav is picked as the party’s general secretary.
Party registration for upcoming elections from today
The Election Commission has issued a notice calling upon political parties wishing to contest the elections to the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly to be held on November 20 for registration.
The Commission has notified the political parties registered with the Commission until August 4, 2022 to register themselves for the purpose of the elections. The deadline for the party registration is until August 16.
When submitting an application for party registration, details about the party, the number of officers and members of the party's central executive committee, province and district committees, and the date the party submitted its annual audit report to the commission must be disclosed.
Similarly, the date of the last election of the party's central level and province level executive committee, whether the political party's organizational form is at the central level or province level or not, should be disclosed.
According to the Political Party Act, when two or more parties apply for party registration for the purpose of taking a single election symbol and participating in the election, the application should be made in accordance with the political party regulations, the Commission has said today.
The application should include a copy of the decision of the Central Committee to register the party for the election purposes, the party's statute, regulations and manifesto, the annual audit report of the financial year 2021/22, and other necessary documents, and it has to be submitted with signature of the major office-bearers of the party.
