20 cadres quit NC-D

KATHMANDU: Twenty NC-D cadres led by the party’s Kathmandu district Nayapati Village Unit Committee Chairman, Bal Bahadur Tamang, have abandoned their party to join the Nepali Congress. Chairmen of Chunikhel village unit committee and Baluwa village unit committee of the NC-D, Ramkaji Shrestha and Mukunda Bhandari, have also joined the NC, the NC said. — RSS

Swiss official coming

KATHMANDU: Deputy secretary of state at the Federal Department of Foreign Ministry of Switzerland, Heidi Tagliavine, is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on a five-day visit. She will acquire “first hand information” on the ongoing peace process. She is scheduled to meet the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other senior officials. She will also hold discussion on federalism and state restructuring with groups concerned. The Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation recently agreed to provide 1.2 million Swiss Franc to Nepal’s Peace Trust Fund. — HNS

Writ petition filed

KATHMANDU: A writ petition was filed in the SC seeking its order to the government authorities to promulgate an Act to safeguard rights of people of third sex and transgender. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Parliament are the defendants of the petition. Activists of the rights of the transgender, including executive director of the Blue Diamond Society, Sunil Babu Pant, jointly filed the petition on Wednesday. They called the apex court to direct the authorities to promulgate the relevant Act.— HNS

MK Sthapit joins JC

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has appointed senior advocate Moti Kaji Stapit as a member of the Judicial Council. The council is headed by Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel. The Nepal Bar Association has recommended senior advocate Basudev Dhungana as its representative to the Judicial Council. — HNS

Book exhibition

KATHMANDU: Coinciding with the World Book Day, which falls on April 23, the British Council (BC) is organising a book exhibition from April 23 to 25. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the BC said it will exhibit 200 new fictions for children and adults. “There will be a bookmark painting competition for children and talk programmes on the importance of reading for adults.” There will be three winners for each category of the bookmark painting competition, the BC said. — HNS