- Monday, 23 February 2026
Kathmandu, Feb 22: The Election Commission continues with the voter education program nationwide with the aim of making the election more participatory and reducing the percentage of invalid votes.
The voter education program also informs the general public about the importance of voting rights and the voting process. The Commission has stated that one voter education volunteer has been deployed in each of the 6,743 wards of 753 local levels across the country from February 15 to March 1.
The Commission has mentioned that the volunteers are reaching the settlements and doorsteps of the general voters and informing them about the importance of the election and the voting process through sample ballot papers. The Commission has also appointed the focal point at the local level as the monitor of the election voter education program, and the orientation program has also been completed.
Similarly, the Commission is making maximum efforts to monitor individuals who provide false and misleading information and hate speech in violation of the election code of conduct and to bring individuals and organizations that commit illegal acts under the ambit of the law in collaboration with regulatory bodies. For this, the Information Ethics Promotion Unit under the Election Information Dissemination and Coordination Center is functional.
Meanwhile, 290 content producers and communicators who produced and disseminated harmful information have been reported to the Cyber Bureau of the Nepal Police for action under the Electronic Transactions Act, 2063. Similarly, 11 have been recommended for action to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority under the Telecommunications Authority Act, 2052.
Similarly, 65 have been recommended to the Press Council, Nepal for action under the Press Council Act, 2048 and one for action under the Advertisement (Regulation) Act, 2076, the Commission stated.
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02- Master ToT for Quality Statistics
Kathmandu, Feb 22: The Master Training of Trainers (ToT) Program has been launched as a preparatory measure for the National Economic Census 2082.
This training program has been conducted with the objective of preparing trainers for the District Economic Census Officer and Census Supervisor Training Program and facilitating the monitoring of on-site data collection, Deputy Chief Statistical Officer Dhundiraj Lamichhane at the National Statistics Office (NSO) said. It is everyone’s responsibility to make the upcoming census successful by fully utilizing the experience of the 2075 BS Economic Census.
This time, the use of modern technology, e-Census, has also been included in the census, which is expected to increase efficiency and accuracy.
The NSO has placed special emphasis on the need for high-level accountability and correct understanding of the content among the trainers. Instructions have been given to bring uniformity in the understanding of equality and in the training materials across the country.
Similarly, the Statistics Office has stated that it is preparing trainers for the identification of problems that may arise in the workplace, ways to solve them, and ensure active participation. Chief Statistics Officer Dr Kamal Prasad Pokharel mentioned that the economic census is not only a data collection tool but also the main basis for policy formulation for the decision-making process.
He also emphasized that quality data leads to quality plans, and that training of master trainers will play an important role in ensuring accurate data coming from the economic census.
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03- Possibility of light rain and snow in Koshi, Gandaki, and Bagmati
Kathmandu, Feb 22: Mist is likely during the morning hours in some places of the Tarai region today.
Likewise, the weather in the mountainous region of the country will be generally cloudy and partly cloudy in the hilly region. The weather in the Tarai region will be mainly fair.
There is a possibility of light rain and snowfall at a few places in the mountainous region of Koshi, Gandaki, and Bagmati provinces, and at one or two places in the hilly and mountainous region of Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to the 24-hour forecast released at 8:00 am today by the Metrological Forecasting Division.
Tonight, there will be hazy conditions in a few places of the Tarai region. The weather will remain partly cloudy in mountainous region of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Karnali provinces, while the weather in the remaining region will be mainly fair.
There is also a possibility of light rain and snowfall at one or two places in the mountainous regions of Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali provinces.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Analysis by the Division states that there is partial influence of the Westerly winds in the country.
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04- Earthquake with epicenter near Ritak in Sankhuwasabha
Kathmandu, Feb 22: An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale was recorded at 7:31 this morning with its epicenter near Ritak in Bhotkhola Rural Municipality of Sankhuwasabha, according to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center, Lainchaur.
Earlier, an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale had struck near Bansar in Lamjung district on January 25.
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05- Mahabir’s personality challenging legacy of mainstream political parties
Santosh Gautam/RSS
Myagdi, Feb 22: Election campaigning for the House of Representatives’ election is speeding up, with candidates employing innovative ways and processes. From locals providing financial support to candidates to candidates of two parties seeking votes from the same platform and former MPs being honored for fulfilling their election commitments are some new scenes in the district today.
Independent candidate Dr. Mahabir Pun, who has been campaigning in an informal manner, is being spontaneously supported financially by mothers’ groups and locals in various places.
Pun resigned as the interim government’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology and is contesting for the House of Representatives from his ancestral home in Myagdi.
“Although some people talk about distributing money to voters to win the election, on the contrary, voters are supporting me financially,” said Pun, who reached Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-6, Marang during the election campaign. “So far, I have received Rs. 1.5 million in support. I will make the amount of support received public after the election.”
Meanwhile, in Annapurna-1, two candidates from different parties sought votes from the same platform a few days ago.
UML candidate Harikrishna Shrestha and CPN (Maoist Center)’s Kshetra Bahadur Ghimire (Biplap) used the same platform to meet voters and express their views in Dowa.
As the voting date approaches, political parties and candidates in the district have intensified their campaigning. As candidates have started going door-to-door and holding election rallies leaders and cadres’ activity in rural areas has increased. Candidates have also made social media a medium of election campaigning.
In the House of Representatives election, which has one constituency, Karna Bahadur Bhandari (KB) of the Nepali Congress, Harikrishna Shrestha of the UML, Arjun Thapa of the Nepali Communist Party and independent candidate Dr Mahabir Pun are seen as the main competitors, says political analyst Laxman Sharma.
He said that it is considered as a competition between the organizational legacy of the political party candidates, evaluation of past works and Mahabir’s personality. The district with six local levels has 86,397 voters to be distributed among 82 polling centres and 120 polling stations.
The candidates of the district have expressed their commitment to maintain good governance by making public service delivery technology-friendly, eliminate red tapism, and include the feelings, demands and needs of the district residents in the laws, budget and plans.
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06- Prohibitory order continues in Gaur
Chandrapur (Rautahat), Feb 22: The District Administration Office has continued the prohibitory order within Gaur municipality area. The prohibitory order has been continued to be effective from 8:30 am today within the eastern Mudbalwa Gate, western Lalbakaiya Dam, north of Bam Canal and south of Gaur Customs Office.
Chief District Officer Dinesh Sagar Bhusal said that the prohibitory order has been continued from 8:30 am on Sunday until further notice. The order was issued from 1:00 am on Saturday to 6:30 am today after a clash between two communities in Savgadha village of Gaur-6 on Saturday morning.
The prohibitory order had been relaxed from 6:30 am to 8:30 am this morning.
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07- HoR elections: 20k publicity materials violating code of conduct removed
Dhanusha, Feb 22: As the election campaign for the House of Representatives to be held on March 5 is accelerating the local administration has removed about 20,000 publicity materials that were installed in violation of the election code of conduct.
The Dhanusha District Administration Office has removed leaflets, pamphlets, banners and posters that were pasted haphazardly by various candidates within the Janakpurdham municipal area.
According to the administration, the materials pasted in violation of the code of conduct have been removed from public places, electricity poles, government buildings and roadsides. The administration had given candidates and political parties a day’s time on Thursday to remove the materials that violate the rules. However, when the materials were not removed within the specified time, the administration took the initiative to remove them.
Dhanusha Chief District Officer Prem Prasad Luitel said that the publicity materials pasted haphazardly at various places in Janakpurdham violated the election code of conduct, and hence removed as a measure of action. Legal action will be taken if such materials are pasted again.
The administration has reiterated its call to parties and candidates to follow the election code of conduct while campaigning.
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