- Wednesday, 5 November 2025
TRN Online
Elect Right Persons
Parmeshwar DevkotaRenowned ophthalmologist Dr. Sanduk Ruit has appealed to the voters to cast their ballots for genuine candidates in the upcoming local elections slated for May 13. Dr. Ruit is the founder and executive director of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology. His contribution to restoring eyesight is remarkable. He has so far restored the eye-sight of more than 180, 000 people in Asia and Africa. With the date for the local polls coming closer, Dr. Ruit, through his Facebook, has called on youths to assess the agenda and reliability of candidates before casting their votes. As felt by everyone, Dr. Ruit states that Nepali voters have become the victims of hollow promises and fake nationalistic slogans for years. He concludes that failing to recognise the right leaders has been one of the biggest weaknesses on our part. According to him, it has been the major reason behind our underdevelopment and growing loss of our credibility. No doubt, his concerns are valid because politics is the key component of governance. Politicians are main players, who shape as well as wreck the system. If politicians do not follow the core values of democracy to meet their partisan or personal benefits, the system goes down the tubes. In such a situation, people lose their faith in the system as well as political leadership. This is what is happening in our society at present. Reviewing the past election manifesto of any political party, one may easily understand how people were befooled through making false promises. Developing railways from the north to the south, operating a Nepali ship in the Indian Ocean, installing gas pipelines in urban homes and emancipation from the vicious circle of poverty were some pledges that some political parties made before the people in the past elections. Today, there has remained a stark gap between what the politicians promised in the past and what we are facing at present. So, the political parties must not repeat making empty assurances in their local poll manifestoes. The Schedule-8 of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 gives 22 exclusive powers to local levels. The parties need to roll out their vision and plans based on these rights of local units, which enable them to refrain from vain promises. Their previous commitments have turned out to be jokes today. Voters should also be critical towards the parties and their leaders. They should judge their deeds and performance by setting certain parameters. First of all, it is necessary to make sure that the standing candidates are close with the people and help them solve their problems. If s/he is a tourist candidate, and has no knowledge about local needs, s/he should be rejected at the ballot box. Personal conduct of a candidate can be another point of measurement. If the candidates are implicated in corruption cases or show undemocratic posture, they are unlikely to serve the public after making it to the public offices. Therefore, the voters keep vigil on them and punish such candidates in the polls. The next point of selecting a candidate can be his vision and activity. If the candidate is visionary, honours values and stands on his commitments, s/he must be elected.
Tackling forest fires is a tough job, say experts
The data provided by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) showed that a total of 2,713 forest fires were recorded from 73 districts in between November and March of the last fiscal year 2021/22. Comparing the numbers with the previous fiscal years showed that Nepal recorded only 234 fewer cases of forest fires in 2021/22 than earlier five fiscal years combined.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros leaves Nepal for Geneva
Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has left Kathmandu today for Geneva, Switzerland, wrapping up his three-day official visit to Nepal.
Local elections 2022: 168,000 security personnel to be mobilized
A total of 168,000 security personnel from various security agencies of Nepal are going to be mobilized to ensure security during the upcoming May 13 local level elections.
2566th Buddha Jayanti to be observed in grand manner in Lumbini
On coming May 16, Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, will be seen abuzz with a host of events in celebration of the 2566th Buddha Jayanti, the day Lord Buddha was born.
Leader Nepal emphasizes on socialism-based economic system
CPN (Unified Socialist) chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the goal of the communist movement is to maintain the prosperity of the people through a socialist system.
18 new cases, 17 recoveries in 24 hours
In 3,691 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the past 24 hours, a total of 18 people were found infected with SARS-CoV-2, informed the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in its regular update.
India logs 2,527 new COVID-19 cases, 33 death in last 24 hours
India reported 2,527 new COVID-19 infections and 33 fatalities in the last 24 hours informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.
Four children killed in an incident of fire
Four children have died in a fire that broke out in a residential house in Kudari Sarkiwada village in ward no 3 of Tila Municipality, Jumla. The incident took place last night.
No-ball incident: Pant fined 100% of match fee; Amre handed one-match ban
Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant and assistant coach Pravin Amre were both fined 100% of their match fees, with Amre also handed a one-match ban, following the team's defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Friday.
JEOC established at Election Commission
A joint election operation centre (JEOC) has been established at the Election Commission under the coordination of the joint secretary and spokesperson of the EC Salikram Sharma Paudel.
U.S. Congressional delegation meets PM Deuba
A United States high-ranking Congressional delegation met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday.
Chimpanzee house opened at Central Zoo
Kathmandu, Apr. 23: Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment Dr. Pem Narayan Kandel and Member Secretary of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) Sarad Chandra Adhikari jointly inaugurated the new chimpanzee house at the Central Zoo, Jawalakhel, on Friday.According to a press statement issued by the NTNC on the occasion, the house was constructed for two chimps named Chimpu (male) and Chimpa (female). The two had been illegally brought into Nepal and were rescued by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) on October 17, 2017.After the rescue, the CIB handed over the simians to the zoo. At the time of the handing over, the male chimp was three months old and the female was of six months. and weighed four kilograms. Since then though, the zoo staff cared for them and fed them fruits, vegetables, milk, bread and honey as per the season and the chimps’ health. As a result, the male today weighs 21 kilograms and the female weights 24 kilograms, NTNC informed.The two primates have been adopted by Razi Rana of the Prabhu Shumsher JBR and Razi Rana Trust under the Central Zoo’s ‘Adopt an Animal’ programme. Rana has provided Rs. 1 million for the care of the animals.
Trade deficit reaches Rs. 1,300 billion
BY LAXMAN KAFLE, Kathmandu, Apr. 23: The country’s trade deficit has reached a whopping Rs. 1,306.08 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2021/22. The trade deficit of the period is higher by 28.47 per cent than the deficit of the corresponding period last fiscal year.Trade deficit during the same period last year was Rs. 1,016.62 billion.Despite a significant increase in exports, the country’s trade deficit has widened further during the review period due to the low volume of exports compared to the imports.According to the Foreign Trade Statistics of the Department of Customs, export trade has increased by 69.44 per cent to Rs. 160.57 billion during the first nine months (mid-July 2021 to mid-April 2022) of the current fiscal year. Nepal had exported goods worth Rs. 94.76 billion in the same period last fiscal year. Meanwhile, imports increased by 31.97 per cent to Rs. 1,466.66 billion during the review period. In the same period last fiscal year, the country had imported goods worth Rs. 1,111.39 billion.With the increase in exports, its contribution to total trade also increased from 7.86 per cent to 9.87 per cent during the review period. The share of export in the total trade has decreased to 90.13 per cent from 92.14 per cent last year. According to the statistics, total foreign trade has also increased. The country’s foreign trade volume has reached Rs. 1,627.23 billion during the review period which is 34.91 per cent more than the previous year. Nepal Rastra Bank has already applied measures to tighten the imports of luxurious and non-essential items in an attempt to control the trade deficit. Petroleum products of over Rs. 219 billion imported According to the data released by the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported petroleum products worth Rs. 219 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.Diesel tops the lists of imported commodity in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Diesel worth Rs. 105.97 billion has been imported during the period.Meanwhile, petrol worth Rs. 47.23 billion, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) worth Rs. 45.34 billion, aviation fuel worth Rs. 9.30 billion, kerosene Rs. 1.07 million, lubricants worth Rs. 4.90 billion and petroleum bitumen worth Rs. 6.27 billion have been imported during the period.The country imported crude soybean oil worth Rs. 46.31 billion, crude palm oil worth Rs. 33.23 billion and crude sunflower worth Rs. 16.49 billion during the review period.Similarly, maize worth Rs. 12.14 billion, paddy and rice worth Rs. 50.7 billion and wheat worth Rs. 5.88 billion have been imported. Soybean, palm oil major export itemsMeanwhile, soybean oil had the largest share in export during the review period. Soybean oil worth Rs. 43.30 billion was exported in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.Similarly, palm oil has the second largest share after soybean oil. Palm oil worth Rs. 36.37 billion was exported during the review period.Cardamom worth Rs. 3.85 billion, yarns worth Rs. 9.13 billion, tea and coffee worth Rs. 3 billion, carpet worth Rs. 7 billion and felts worth Rs. 4 billion were exported during the review period.
No change in voters’ list: EC
Kathmandu, Apr. 23: The Election Commission (EC) has requested the aspirant candidates of the upcoming local level election to remove their names from the closed list of the candidates to be elected under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system in the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assemblies.Issuing a statement on Thursday, the EC has asked the candidates of the local level poll, slated for May 13, to remove their names from the closed list before April 23. It has also clarified that as long as the names of the candidates are in the closed list, they will not be allowed to file their candidacy in the local poll. The EC is ready to remove the name of such persons from the closed list if the political party that nominated their names for the closed list sends a letter to it within the day before the date (April 23).Articles 84 and 176 of the Constitution have provision of electing members of House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly from the first-past-the-post system and proportional representation systemSimilarly, Sub-section (9) of Article 28 of the House of Representatives Election Act, 2074 BS has provision that the party has to submit the closed list of the candidates with the approval of the person concerned.The Sub-section (1) of section 30 of the same act has also mentioned that the final closed list published by the EC will be valid during the tenure of the HoR. In the restrictive phrase of the same sub-section of the Act has also mentioned that if the nominating party sends a letter to remove the name of a candidate from the close list after the formation of the HoR, the commission can remove the name of such candidate from the list.EC’s Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel said that sub-section (3) of the same section states that a person whose name is included in the closed list of the candidate for the House of Representatives cannot be a candidate in the National Assembly, Provincial Assembly or local level elections.Articles 28, 29 and 30 of the Provincial Assembly Member Election Act, 2074 BS have similar provisions, the EC said. According to the EC, it has been removing the names of the candidates from the closed lists after the concerned political parties decided to remove the names of the candidates from the closed list in accordance with the provisions of the House of Representatives Election Act and Provincial Assembly Member Election Act.Spokesperson Poudel said that the existing laws doesn’t allow EC to remove the name from the closed list on the basis of the person’s request. Voter’s list will not be changedMeanwhile, the EC has stated that there will be no alteration in the voter’s list now. The commission had published the final list of voters on March 27. Stating that the EC has been receiving requests to correct the list even now, Poudel said no amendment, modification or change could be made in the final voter list published on March 27.
