Morocco has appointed Mohamed Maliki as its ambassador to Nepal. Maliki, who is based in New Delhi, is in Kathmandu to present his credentials to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Ashim Neupane of Republica talked to Maliki on different issues including the possibility of fostering bilateral trade, among others. Excerpts:

The government has tabled the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2017/18 amid positive economic outlook of the country with growth rate in the current fiscal year projected at 6.94 percent -- the highest since 1993/94.  The International Monetary Fund has also made a projection of 5.5 percent of GDP growth for Nepal. Sagar Ghimire of Republica caught up with Andreas Bauer, the Senior Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for India, Nepal and Bhutan, to talk about a broad range of economic issues of Nepal. Excerpts:

The government has deferred the second phase election in a bid to make Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) take part. Yet the RJPN, formed with the unity of six small Madhesi parties, has not softened its anti-election stand. Why is RJPN so adamant on boycotting and disrupting the second phase? Can there be no meeting point now? Manish Suman, a General Secretary of RJPN, shared his views with Mahabir Paudyal on Wednesday afternoon.

CHITWAN, May 31: Faced with imminent defeat, representatives of the ruling CPN (Maoist Center) on Sunday midnight tore off ballot papers while the vote count of Bharatpur ward-19 was ongoing.

CPN-UML candidate Bidya Sundar Shakya was elected mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on Sunday, defeating his nearest rival Raju Raj Joshi of Nepali Congress. With Shakya all set to assume the top post in the country"s largest city, Republica"s Gyan P. Neupane talked with him about his vision and his plans to make the capital “a beautiful, safe, prosperous and lively city” as promised in the election manifesto. Excerpts:

The frustratingly slow vote counting process has dented the great public enthusiasm for local election. Many of them are asking if there is a way to make this process faster during the second phase. Perhaps using electronic voting machines is an option? Neel Kantha Uprety, the Chief Election Commissioner during the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013, offered his views on these and other election- related issues in an interview with Republica’s Mahabir Paudyal and Bhadra Sharma.

Republic of Lithuania, a northern European country, officially inaugurated its Honorary Consulate in Nepal on Tuesday. Shovakar Hari Neupane, a Kathmandu-based businessman, has been appointed as Lithuania's Honorary Consular in Nepal. Lithuanian ambassador to Nepal, Laimonas Talat-Kelpsa, who is based in New Delhi, is in Kathmandu for the inauguration of the consular office. Ashim Neupane of Republica talked to Talat-Kelpsa on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony to know about bilateral trade between Nepal and Lithuania, among other issues. Excerpts:

Hari Sharma has closely observed Nepali politics from both in and out of government and is widely known for his erudite, independent analysis. So what does he make of the upcoming local election? Will the election help solve the larger political and constitutional issues? How will the new political actors fare? And what can Nepalis look forward to? The veteran political analyst sat down for a chat with Republica’s Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal at his home in Kapan, Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.

Renault Nepal has launched a new variant of Renault KWID hatchback in the Nepali market. The car with powerful 1.0 liter Smart Control Efficiency (SCe) engine was launched amid a function in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Republica talked to Nikunj Agrawal, the managing director of Advanced Automobiles Pvt Ltd - the authorized distributor of Renault in Nepal, to know more about Renault and its performance in Nepal. Excerpts:

OPPO launched its latest offering -- Selfie Expert F3 -- amid a function in Kathmandu on Friday. According to the company, the F3 is targeted at ‘Group Selfie’ generation. The smartphone has features like 5.5-inch screen, 13 MP rear camera, 16 MP front camera, 4GB RAM, 64 GB ROM and 3,200 mAh battery, among others.