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Phurba Gyaljen Sherpa has been elected as the President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). The NMA is an umbrella organization of mountain tourism entrepreneurs. 

According to the vote counting conducted this morning, Sherpa defeated his rival candidate Kul Bahadur Gurung to be elected the new NMA President. 

Sherpa received 342 votes while Gurung received 288 votes, according to the election committee.

Similarly, Ishwori Poudel has been elected as the senior Vice President, Mingma Gyalbo Sherpa as the first Vice President, Bodhraj Bhandari as the second Vice President, and Rajendra Lama as the General Secretary. Similarly, Chandan Thapa has been elected as the Secretary, Ngima Nurbu Sherpa and Sumi Lama have received equal votes for the post of treasurer.

Madhav Kumar Dhamala, Kedar Neupane, Thupden Sherpa, Gokul Thapa, Mulal Gurung, Dendi Sherpa, Bikram Karki, Rinje Sherpa, Devendra Dangol, Diki Sherpa and Nisha Bhote were elected members of the new NMA Executive Committee.

The Tharu community living in the Tarai region of Nepal is celebrating the Atwari festival with special faith and enthusiasm today. 

Considered the second biggest festival after Maghi, Atwari is an important festival celebrated with mostly men staying on a fast. Some women also voluntarily observe a fast during this festival.

This festival is celebrated every year on the second Sunday after Shri Krishna Janmashtami. Since it is celebrated on a Sunday or Aaitabar, this festival is called Aatwari. It is customary for brothers to fast for the good health and prosperity of their sisters on this festival. 

The religious importance of the Aatwari festival is linked to the story of the Mahabharata, says Budhram Chaudhary, Chair of the Ghodaghodi municipal Bhalmansa Working Committee. The sun is also worshipped during this festival. The devotees observe a fast without even drinking water from Sunday morning. It is customary to take a bath and perform puja on the day of fasting.

After the puja, various native dishes are cooked including rice flour roti, phulauri, and mixed beans. On the second day of the festival, i.e. Monday morning, the devotees bathe again and perform pooja to break the fast. Then, the brothers take offerings set aside for their sisters and reach their homes. The sisters bless their brothers and accept the offerings brought by the brothers. It is believed that this will further strengthen the relationship between brothers and sisters, said Aman Chaudhary, Secretary of the Ghodaghodi municipal Bhalmansa Working Committee.

This festival is celebrated with much fanfare by the Tharu community living in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Surkhet and Dang districts.

Recognizing the importance of the festival, the Sudurpaschim Provincial Government has declared a public holiday across the province today.

Pratham Gurung has been declared the winner of Mero Voice Universe Season-2, a singing competition based on a reality show. Similarly, Rista Gurung has been declared the winner of Mero Dance Universe Season-2.

Both were declared the winners at the grand finale of Mero Voice Universe and Mero Dance Universe Season-2 organized by Intra National Welfare and Support Foundation at Sunrise Conference Center Godavari, Lalitpur on Friday. 

Both the winners received a cash prize of Rs 10 million each, life insurance worth Rs 2.5 million, free air tickets and various other prizes.

Amrita Rai became the first runner-up of Mero Dance Universe while Situ Maharjan became the second runner-up, Suraj Sinjali Magar the third runner-up, Susana Koirala the fourth runner-up and Sajan Pakhrin Tamang the fifth runner-up. They received cash prize of Rs 2.5 million, Rs 1 million, Rs 600,000, Rs 500,000 and Rs 400,000 in cash respectively. They also bagged life insurance policy from Citizens Life Insurance.

Similarly, Topraj Tamang became the first runner-up of Mero Voice Universe,  Junu Prasai the second runner-up, Wange Gurung the Third runner-up, Prashant Pokharel the fourth runner-up and Deepraj Rai fifth runner-up. They received Rs 2.5 million, 1 million, Rs 600,000, Rs 500,000 and Rs 400,000 in cash respectively along with a life insurance policy from Citizens Life.

In the cultural group dance competition, Bhutanese Refugee Dance Group came first to win a cash prize of Rs 2.5 million while Manaslu Word College won the first runner-up title to win Rs 1.5 million. Similarly, Yuma Maharani Dance Group became the second runner-up and received Rs 1 million while Nepal Police received Rs 500,000 as the third runner-up and Tareli Cultural Group came fourth and received Rs 300,000 in the group dance category.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey, Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City Chiribabu Maharjan, and others dignitaries presented awards and trophies to the winners.

There is a possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in the hilly areas of Bagmati and Karnali Provinces today. 

Moderate rainfall is also likely at some places in Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces along with the hilly regions of the country, as well as at a few places in the Tarai region, according to the Weather Forecasting Division.

The weather will remain generally cloudy throughout the country today. In addition, there is a possibility of wind gusts in Madhesh Province along with the Tarai regions of Koshi and Lumbini Provinces.

Later tonight, the weather will remain generally cloudy in Koshi and Madesh Provinces along with the hilly regions of the country and partly cloudy in the rest of the country. There is a possibility of moderate rainfall at a few places in Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces along with the remaining hilly regions of the country, as well as at one or two places in the Tarai region. There is also a possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in the hilly areas of Gandaki Province.

The meteorological analysis by the Division says that the monsoon low pressure line is currently located near the normal position. There is the influence of water vapor-rich air coming from the Bay of Bengal.