Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki takes oath as Nepal's first woman prime minister
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Kathmandu (PTI): Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki took oath as Nepal’s first woman prime minister on Friday, to lead an interim government, ending days of political uncertainty after the abrupt resignation of prime minister K P Sharma Oli earlier this week following wide-spread protests.
President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office to Karki, 73, at the President’s Office.
Besides President Paudel and the newly-elected prime minister, Vice President Ram Sahay Yadav and Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Rawat were present during the occasion.
President Paudel said the new caretaker government is mandated to hold fresh parliamentary elections within six months.
Earlier, after hectic consultations and negotiations among various stakeholders Karki's name was announced as the head of the caretaker government.
Karki was chosen to lead the interim government after a meeting between President Paudel, Nepal's top military brass, and the youth protesters, who spearheaded the anti-government protests
A meeting held between President Paudel, the Nepal Army chief and representatives of the 'Gen Z' protesters agreed on Karki's name to head the interim government.
Soon after taking oath, Karki will form a small cabinet and at its first meeting of the cabinet, she is likely to recommend to the president dissolution of the Parliament as per an understanding reached among various stakeholders, sources said.
President Paudel also consulted leaders of all major political parties, legal experts and civil society leaders separately before deciding to appoint Karki as the caretaker prime minister.
Oli quit on Tuesday following the violent youth-led agitation.
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Man sets fire to gas cylinder on truck in Kerala's Kottayam, held
Kottayam(Kerala) (PTI): A 33-year-old man climbed onto a parked truck carrying cooking gas cylinders and set fire to one of them near Thalayolaparambu in the small hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 am, they said.
The fire and rescue personnel soon arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, averting a major disaster.
According to police, the man is suspected to be under mental distress as he claimed that he was walking from Ernakulam to his home in Marangattupilly here when he saw the truck on the roadside.
An FIR under sections 329(3)(criminal trespass),324(2)(mischief),326(f)(mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged against him.
Police said that the man was formally arrested, but will be released on station bail as the offences he is accused of are bailable.
"His family is here at the station and he will be released to them," the officer said.
In the FIR, police have said that the man opened the seal of one of the gas cylinders and set fire to it with the knowledge that his act was dangerous to those living in the area.
According to the company transporting the cooking gas cylinders, it suffered a loss of Rs 2,300 in the incident.
