Protest

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is heading towards a two-thirds majority in Nepal's parliamentary polls, securing 124 seats under direct voting and nearly 40 lakh votes under the proportionate-voting system as of 7 am on Monday. The RSP has won 124 seats and is leading in one seat, whereas the Nepali Congress (NC) has won 17 seats and is leading in one seat. The CPN-UML has won eight seats and is leading in one seat and the NCP has won seven seats. The Shram Sanskriti Party has won three seats, the RPP and Independent candidates have won one seat each. So far, the results for 161 of the 165 seats have been declared under direct voting. The outcome on the remaining four seats is expected to be declared in the afternoon. Under proportionate voting, the RSP has secured 37,89,803 votes, the NC 12,75,594, the CPN-UML 10,79,726, the NCP 5,55,300, the Shram Sanskriti Party 2,65,398, the Janata Samajwadi Party 1,16,463 and the Rastriya Parivartan Party has bagged 1,08,084 votes. Nepal i

A device thrown by a counter-protester at an anti-Islam demonstration in New York City on Saturday was confirmed to be an improvised explosive, according to a preliminary police analysis. As the investigation continued on Sunday, police said they were looking into a second suspicious device found in the same area of Manhattan's Upper East Side. Two people were in custody for their alleged role in Saturday's confrontation, which unfolded during a "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City" event led by far-right activist Jake Lang outside the Manhattan residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The sparsely attended event drew a far larger group of counter-demonstrators, including one person who tossed a smoking object containing nuts, bolts, screws and a "hobby fuse" into the crowd, police said. In a social media post on Sunday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department's bomb squad determined the object was not a hoax device or smoke bomb, but an "improvised explosive device .

Balendra Shah 'Balen', the rapper-turned-politician who won Kathmandu's 2022 mayoral polls as an independent, has become the face of a generational change, symbolising a break from Nepal's traditional parties. Popular as 'Balen,' the prime ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) defeated four-time prime minister K P Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal's legacy party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist) -- CPN-UML -- by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency on Saturday. The 35-year-old engineer was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Gen Z youths toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led coalition government in September last year, following two-day nationwide violent protests against corruption and a ban on social media. But Balen declined then to lead the interim government, saying he would rather head the government by contesting the parliamentary election for a full term. In January, he joined the newly formed Rastri

Rastriya Swotantra Party is leading in 23 seats, while Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are leading in three each as per the preliminary election results. Vote counting started late on Thursday night, according to the Election Commission. Counting is expected to be completed by Friday night. Nepal witnessed about 60 per cent voter turnout during the elections to the House of Representatives on Thursday - the country's first polls since violent Gen Z protests that toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led coalition government last year.

Voting will be held on Thursday for the general elections, the first one to be held after a Gen Z youth led protest toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led government in Nepal last year. More than 18.9 million eligible Nepalese will exercise their franchise to elect 275 member House of Representatives (HoR) from among the 3,406 candidates vying for 165 seats under direct voting and 3,135 candidates vying for 110 seats through proportionate voting. The election campaign concluded mid-night of Monday, March 2. The voting will start at 7 am on Thursday, March 5, and conclude at 5 pm. Acting Chief election commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari told media persons on Wednesday, "This time the voting percentage will increase and the percentage of invalid ballot papers will also decline due to improved voter education launched by the commission." He also sought cooperation from all sides to conduct the election successfully. The Gen Z youth through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and

A court here has granted bail to nine Indian Youth Congress workers who were arrested in connection with the "shirtless" protest at the AI summit, saying the protest constituted symbolic political critique and pre-trial detention could "illicit pre-emptive punishment". Judicial Magistrate First Class Ravi passed the order on Sunday while hearing the bail pleas of the nine accused -- Krishna Hari, Narshimha Yadav, Kundan Kumar Yadav, Ajay Kumar Singh, Jitendra Singh Yadav, Raja Gurjar, Ajay Kumar Vimal alias Bantu, Saurabh Singh and Arbaz Khan. "The protest, at highest, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event: T-shirts with leadership imagery, non-inciteful slogans bereft of communal/regional taint, and transient assembly. No evidence discloses property defacement, or delegate panic; exit was orderly via escort," the court said. It noted that the pre-trial detention, severed from any imperative necessity and devoid of persisting investigative demands, could ...

A former rapper who ran Kathmandu as a mayor. The young leader of Nepal's oldest political party. And a communist veteran politician hoping to return to power after being ousted in youth-led protests in which dozens were killed last year. They are the three leading contenders as Nepal heads into a crucial nationwide election, the first since the protests led to the fall of former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli's government in September. Whoever prevails will become Nepal's 16th prime minister in less than two decades, underscoring the recurring political instability that has marked the Himalayan nation since the monarchy was abolished in 2008. The protests in Nepal last year revealed the extent of young people's frustration with corruption and a lack of opportunity in the country, where around a fifth of young people are unemployed, but where the children of the political elite seem to enjoy luxury lifestyles and numerous advantages. After public outrage led to the resignation of

Delhi Police has arrested Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with the shirtless protest staged by a group of IYC members at the AI Impact Summit here last week, officials said on Tuesday. With this, the total number of arrests made in the case has risen to eight. Police had earlier arrested seven Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, including three from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, for the protest staged at the Bharat Mandapam last Friday. They have been identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujjar and Ajay Kumar. In addition, IYC's Uttar Pradesh general secretary Ritik alias Monty Shukla has been detained from Lalitpur in the state. According to police, additional sections under the BNS, including 196 (promoting enmity between different groups and acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 197 (assertions prejudicial to national integration), have been invoked in the FIR, which carry a jail term of up to three years. Charges of criminal conspiracy, ...

The conduct of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue was not legitimate dissent, rather a "blatant assault on public order" that also hurt the country's "diplomatic image", a Delhi court said. Judicial Magistrate Ravi made the observation on Saturday when the four IYC workers who were held for the "shirtless" protest at the Bharat Mandapam here were produced before his court. The court allowed five days of custody to the police to question them. Summarising the reasons for allowing the Delhi Police's plea seeking custodial interrogation, the magistrate said that the accused hailed from remote parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, posing a high risk of their absconding. This was "further heightened by early investigation findings suggesting external conspiracy links, the court said. A portion of the order passed by judicial magistrate Ravi, accessed by PTI, said that the protest imperilled or jeopardised not only the ..

The IYC's protest at the AI Impact Summit was inspired by Nepal's violent Gen Z movement that recently toppled the government there, the Delhi Police said on Saturday. Investigators are probing the financial trail behind the protest, including who funded the printing of t-shirts brandished during the demonstration, it said. The t-shirts carried messages such as 'PM is compromised', 'India-US Trade Deal' and 'Epstein Files', it said. Teams are conducting raids to locate the printing facility where the shirts were printed and to identify persons involved in arranging them, it said. The police are also questioning Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib, who was examined for the second consecutive day, while a hunt is on to arrest remaining agitators allegedly linked to the protest, sources said. Earlier, the Delhi Police arrested four IYC workers and booked them at Tilak Marg Police Station under multiple provisions, including criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, assault

A Delhi court on Saturday sent the four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, who were arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue a day ago, to five-day police custody. Judicial Magistrate Ravi allowed the Delhi Police's plea seeking five days of custodial interrogation of the accused persons. A detailed order is awaited. The arrested protesters were Krishna Hari, national secretary of Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, IYC state secretary, Bihar; Ajay Kumar, IYC state president, Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana. Delhi Police sought five-day custody of the arrested protesters, arguing that they raised anti-national slogans and wore T-shirts with objectionable images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the event venue. It said the mobile phones of the accused persons were required to be recovered and, as they were from different states, custodial interrogation was necessary. Counsel for the police argued that it was a "serious" matter. An attempt wa

Thousands of Kokborok-speaking students formed human chains across Tripura on Saturday to press their demand for the adoption of the Roman script for the language. The Kokborok, the second official language of the northeastern state, is the mother tongue of most of the 19 tribes. The students under the banner of the United Movement Committee for Roman Script (UMCRC) formed human chains at 11 locations across Tripura and raised slogans for the introduction of the Roman script for the Kokborok language. "The government must respect the sentiment of Kokborok-speaking people and introduce the Roman script," John Debbarma, the convener of UMCRC, a joint platform of Kokborok-speaking students, told reporters. He expressed disappointment over Chief Minister Manik Saha's recent statements on the demand for the Roman script for the Kokborok language. "A democratically elected chief minister can't ignore the aspirations of the people. We hope that he will allow Roman script for the Kokborok

Iran's president apologised on Wednesday to "all those affected" by the nationwide protest and bloody crackdown that followed it. President Masoud Pezeshkian also denounced unspecified "Western propaganda" surrounding the protests. Pezeshkian said he knew the "great sorrow" felt by people in the protests and crackdown, without directly acknowledging the hand Iranian security forces had in the bloodshed. "We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents," Pezeshkian said. "We are not seeking confrontation with the people." Pezeshkian also insisted that his nation was "not seeking nuclear weapons... and is ready for any kind of verification." His comments came during a speech at a commemoration marking Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran is in the midst of negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program. It remains unclear, though, if a nuclear deal will be reached. President Donald Trump has threatened to se

Dozens of relatives and friends of Venezuelan opposition leaders, human rights defenders and others detained for their political activities protested Saturday outside a notorious prison in the capital to demand the immediate release of their loved ones. The demonstration outside Helicoide prison in Caracas comes during mounting pressure on the government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez to release all people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked by their families and nongovernmental organisations to their political beliefs. Her government last month announced it would free a significant number of prisoners, but families and human rights watchdogs have criticised authorities for the slow pace of the releases. Rodriguez last month also promised to close Helicoide, where torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse of prisoners have been extensively documented. She said the facility, which was initially built to be a mall, would be turned into a ...

Drivers of app-based taxis and autorickshaws on Saturday observed a day-long strike in Maharashtra and other parts of the country to draw the government's attention to various demands, including a ban on "illegal" bike taxis and action against "arbitrary" fare policy. The protest affected commuters to some extent as most of the cabs and rickshaws linked to aggregator apps remained off roads. State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik warned of taking action against the ride aggregator companies if they behave unfairly with the drivers and indulge in "injustice" against them. He said the government was ready to support the drivers on their genuine issues. Maharashtra Kamgar Sabha (MKS), a union that had given the strike call, claimed the protest was "successful" as most of the drivers "spontaneously" participated in the strike in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and other regions in the state. It warned to intensify the agitation if their demands were ignored. MKS' head Dr Kesh

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to list for hearing a plea challenging a recently notified University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation on the ground that it has adopted a non-inclusionary definition of caste-based discrimination and excludes certain categories from institutional protection. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submissions of a lawyer seeking urgent hearing of the plea. "There is a possibility of discrimination against the general class. My case is 'Rahul Dewan and Ors vs Union'," a lawyer said. "We know what is happening. Make sure defects are cured. We will list it," the CJI said. The new regulations mandating all higher education institutions to form "equity committees" to look into discrimination complaints and promote equity were notified on January 13. The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, mandated that these committees must include

Death toll in protest crackdown tops 5,000

Four months after the Gen Z protests in Nepal, as many as four former prime ministers have filed their nomination papers from different constituencies for the March 5 general elections. Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist) chair and deposed Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, is contesting from Jhapa-5 while former prime minister Pushpakamal Dahal 'Prachanda' of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has filed nomination from Rukum East. Two other former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal of Nepali Communist Party and Baburam Bhattarai representing Pragatisheel Lokatantrik Party have filed nominations from Rautahat-1 and Gorkha-2 constituencies respectively. However, two former prime ministers, Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior leader of Nepali Communist Party Jhala Nath Khanal are not in the race. The general elections in Nepal were necessitated after Oli resigned as prime minister on September 9, following violent protests by the youth-led Gen Z ...

A US-based activist agency said Sunday it has verified at least 3,919 deaths during a wave of protests that swept Iran and led to a bloody crackdown, and fears the number could be significantly higher. The Human Rights Activists News Agency posted the revised figure, up from the previous toll of 3,308. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution. The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. The Associated Press has been unable to independently confirm the toll. Iranian officials have not given a clear death toll, although on Saturday, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests had left several thousand people dead and blamed the United States for the deaths. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualt

Singur's industrial promise was undone by flawed land acquisition and a costly return to agriculture. Reviving it through farmer-led industrial parks could restore value and growth