Despite a punch up among its student leaders in the afternoon, the Nepali Congress appears to have temporarily put its factionalism aside.

Sushil Pyakurel, one of the petitioners in the murder case against Sapkota, resigned after being asked to withdraw the case by ruling party members.

Ram Chandra Poudel group, which has backing of a host of senior leaders, wants to hold ‘decisive talks’ with party president today.

Party insiders say that Agni Sapkota for Speaker is part of a larger deal among Deuba, Dahal and Oli that includes transitional justice and the Constitutional Council.

Dahal, who had long been sidelined by Oli in the party, has bounced back and ensured that the Maoists maintain at least one high-level state position.

Sapkota, who faces a murder charge for an insurgency-era killing, has been proposed for House Speaker by the ruling party.

Issuing a 10-point clarification, the embassy insisted that there is no military component to the MCC.

The resistance to the MCC’s Nepal compact is not coming from a dissenting faction or the opposition, but from the ruling party’s top leadership itself.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the new Indian ambassador, previously served as deputy chief of mission in Beijing and at the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu.

The diplomat, currently Delhi's envoy to France, is expected to assume office in Kathmandu in early February.

The dismal state of the Nepali passport can largely be attributed to Nepalis hiding out illegally in foreign countries while on temporary visas, say officials.

While some have pointed to the deputy Speaker’s refusal to resign as an obstacle, it is the ruling party’s factional infighting that is holding the House hostage, insiders say.

The ministry had planned to add more diplomatic staff and expand its missions abroad but the Finance Ministry says that would only add to the state’s financial burden.

Committee members themselves expressed concern after a local agent for a foreign firm lodged a complaint and was then summoned as an expert on the matter.

The Chinese were deported despite Nepal Police’s failure to establish any criminal charges against them--and to a country that practices capital punishment.