- Monday, 10 November 2025
Kathmandu, July 15: Both Houses of the federal parliament are meeting today.
The House of Representatives is meeting at 1:00 pm while the National Assembly at 1:15 pm.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel is presenting a proposal in the House of Representatives, seeking consideration on ‘Alternative Finance Mobilization Bill, 2081’.
Similarly, Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Devendra Dahal, is scheduled to put forward a proposal, seeking consideration on ‘Ship Operation and Management Bill, 2081’. Chairman of the Public Account Committee, Rishikesh Pokharel, will be tabling the 23rd annual report of PAC, 2082, while Speaker Devraj Ghimire to recite a letter relating to authentication of bills from the President’s Office.
The National Assembly will witness the presentation of a proposal, seeking consideration on ‘Federal Civil Service Bill, 2080’. Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Raj Kumar Gupta, is tabling the Bill in the Upper House. The Bill will be presented along with the message from the House of Representatives.
Moreover, Minister for Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Dipak Khadka is scheduled to present the proposal, seeking National Assembly’s permission to send the ‘Water Resources Bill, 2081’ to the Legislation Management Committee for clause-wise discussion.
Information about it was shared by the federal parliament secretariat.
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Heavy rainfall predicted in four provinces
Kathmandu, July 15: The monsoon wind is active across the country at present.
The Weather Forecasting Division informed that it will be generally cloudy today, while few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces are likely to have heavy rainfall.
The upper hilly and mountainous places of these provinces are predicted to have moderate rains and snowfall.
Similarly, it will be generally cloudy coming night. Light to moderate rainfall is predicted in some hilly regions of Koshi, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to the weather service.
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Four persons die in separate incidents in Dang
Deukhuri, July 15: Four persons died in separate incidents in Dang district. Two teenage boys drowned in the Babai River while swimming on Monday.
Those losing lives while swimming were Bidhan KC, 17, and Kushal Budhamagar, 16, from Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan city-2, Dang.
Chief of Hapure Area Police Office, Dev KC, informed that the boys had gone missing while swimming. The lifeless bodies are kept at Rapti Provincial Hospital for postmortem.
Similarly, two others died in a motorcycle accident. They were Rohit BK, 18, and Nishan BK, 16, from Gadhwa rural municipality-8. Injured seriously in the accident occurred at Sisnekhola Bridge along Rampur-Ghorahi road section, both boys breathed their last while receiving treatment at Rapti Academy of Health Science on Monday evening, according to Spokesperson at District Police Office, Chakra Bahadur Shah.
The motorcycle (Ra 7 Pa 3270) they were riding was heading to Ghorahi from Rampur. The incident occurred when the motorcycle lost control.
The bodies of the dead ones are kept at Rapti Academy of Health Science to postmortem.
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Efforts on to resume transportation along BP Highway
Kavrepalanchwok, July 15: The landslides occurred at three places along BP Highway obstructed transportation on Monday night.
The District Police Office informed that efforts were on since early this morning to clear debris and repair the damaged road stretch to resume the transportation.
The road obstructions occurred at Mamti of Roshi rural municipality-11, and Khahare Khola and Biruwadanda of Roshi-9, according to Information Officer at District Police Office, Min Bahadur Ghale.
He informed that efforts were on to resume vehicular movement by clearing obstructions with the coordination of local people’s representatives.
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Claiming ‘no development’ is false narrative: General Secretary Sharma
Jhapa, July 15: General Secretary of the Nepali Congress, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, expressed concern over the claim that there is ‘no development’ in Nepal. He expressed worry over the efforts establishing a wrong narrative of no development in the country.
Addressing a programme organized to distribute land ownership certificates to the Dalit and landless squatters at Buddhashanti rural municipality-4 in the district on Monday, General Secretary Sharma wondered why some section was spreading a false narrative that nothing had happened in the country, while the development efforts were going on.
“There are blacktopped road at every local level. This local level has been allocated Rs 180 million for drinking water project alone,” he reminded, adding that the third longest suspension bridge of Nepal is in this local level.
Expansion of road, bridge, drinking water, electricity and hospital services has indicated well the ongoing development activities. He, however, said citizens need good governance in addition to development.
The General Secretary shared that he had halted to distribute land ownership certificates with heavy tax. After he requested the government to not impose heavy tax on it, the government agreed it. Total 195 landless households from ward no 4 of Buddhashanti rural municipality were distributed the land ownership certificates.
On the occasion, Chairman of Land Problems Resolution Commission in Jhapa, Madan Adhikari, informed that plan was afoot to distribute the essential certificate to 550 landless households in Jhapa district.
Two days back, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had launched the certificate distribution drive from Kankai municipality. A total o 157 families received the land ownership documents.
Chairman Adhikari further informed that 132 households were handed over the land ownership certificates in Arjundhara municipality. He, however, said some people were not able to pay tax to get the certificate, which was creating a hindrance.
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NC Vice Chair suggests govt ensuring smooth public service
Karnali, July 15: Vice Chairman of the Nepali Congress, Purna Bahadur Khadka, has suggested the ruling coalition that it improved public service delivery. Although political stability is in place with two-party coalition, the government needs to improve public service, he added.
Addressing a party cadres’ gathering in Birendranagar on Monday, Vice Chairman Khadka expressed worry why people were complaining of public service despite having stable governments in all three tiers. “It’s wrong on the part of politicians from the ruling coalition itself to indulge in misgovernance,” he reminded, arguing that it sheer weakness of leadership.
He further suggested the government that it intensified the tasks like constitution amendment and fulfillment of public needs and aspiration. “Politicians must shun greed. Only those shunning greed can be liberated from fear. Such person can hold his/her image high,” Vice Chairman Khadka stressed.
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Foreign Ministry’s one-year: Clams new dimensions in diplomatic relations
Kathmandu, July 15: The Foreign Ministry has shared its one-year achievements and works, claiming new dimensions in diplomatic relations.
Since Dr Arzu Rana Deuba took charge as Foreign Minister in the current coalition government formed on July 15, 2024, new dimensions have been added to Nepal’s diplomatic relations, and her diplomatic engagements have further strengthened the foreign policy. In the past one year, the Ministry has taken significant initiatives to advance Nepal’s foreign relations.
In addition to participating in various international forums and bilateral and multilateral meetings, Dr Rana has been advocating for Nepal’s national agendas and interests, according to the Ministry.
High-level visits and diplomatic engagements
Dr Rana began her term with an official visit to India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar. During the visit, she met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 19, 2024 and held talks with her Indian counterpart Jaishankar. The meetings touched on various issues of Nepal-India relations, and agreements were reached on trade and transit, energy, connectivity, investment, additional air routes from India to Nepal, floods and inundation, Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, and border infrastructure.
Both sides agreed to continue cooperation and engagement at various levels, including regular bilateral mechanisms. Dr Rana and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar held bilateral meetings in Muscat, Oman on February 16, 2025 and in New Delhi on March 18, 2025.
Dr Rana accompanied Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on an official visit to China, where Nepal signed the long-awaited BRI agreement. During the visit, she held bilateral meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
The Foreign Minister held meetings with her counterparts, ministers and leaders from Japan, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, Indonesia, Oman, Qatar, Israel, Philippines, Iran, and Mexico. She demonstrated well her diplomatic skills through her successful participation in the 79th UN General Assembly, the meeting of G77, the G20 summit, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, the third ACD Summit in Doha, the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, the Women Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Canada, the 81st session of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, the 58th High-Level Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi.
Ministry’s restructuring
The dimensions and scope of diplomacy of Nepal are being expanded globally. Five years ago, the number of Nepali living abroad has increased from a few to tens of thousands. But the Ministry is struggling to expand its services, including passports, to keep up with the growing number of Nepalis abroad due to various reasons like limited manpower. Additionally, it lacks exact data on the Nepalis living abroad, leading to difficulties in resolving their problems or rescuing them when they are in trouble. Therefore, an organisation and management (O&M) survey has been conducted in the ministry, realising its need.
“Nepalis abroad have complained that they lack prompt access to passport and consular services. For example, there are currently at least 70,000 Nepalis in California, USA, and over 100,000 in Texas. They have to go to New York or Washington, D.C. to get consular services, compounding their difficulties. To address these difficulties, consulates general have been established in Dallas, San Francisco and Dubai in the UAE, following an O&M survey in the ministry,” the Ministry statement read.
As per need, a mobile service has also been launched in some countries to serve Nepalis. In order to provide services in the Middle East and other countries where there is a high flow of Nepalis, and expand the effectiveness of Nepal’s diplomatic service, staffing has been strengthened in key missions.
Sagarmatha Sambaad
Nepal organised the first edition of Sagarmatha Sambaad in May this year. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Sambaad serves as a global dialogue platform, aimed at discussing issues of regional and global importance related to climate change. The dialogue brought together experts, policymakers, representatives from over 20 countries, including neighbouring India and China, and over 50 international organisations, discussing pressing issues on climate change.
It dwelt on wide-ranging issues of Mountain put forward by Nepal. The participants expressed their commitment to supporting and cooperating with this agenda and principles put forward by Nepal in the coming days. The event concluded with the adoption of a 25-point action plan. The event can be measured as a diplomatic success for Nepal.
Economic diplomacy and LDC graduation strategy
The impact of the global economic recession that began after the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war is still in effect. The Foreign Ministry has established a separate Economic Diplomacy Division in an effort to make the country’s economy dynamic through economic diplomacy.
Currently, the division is engaged in attracting foreign investors to Nepal, promoting and expanding the Nepali market in the world market through diplomacy, and promoting export trade. In the context that the country is struggling to attract direct foreign investment as expected and exports fail to replace imports, economic diplomacy can be instrumental in bridging this gap.
The division has planned to connect non-resident Nepalis, and explore their potential and bring in their knowledge, skills and capital for the development of Nepal. Established on the initiatives of Dr Rana, the division aims to adopt a policy to utilise labour, energy, tourism, adventure sports in the interest of Nepal through economic diplomacy.
Dr Rana has directed all Nepali missions abroad to remain active in promoting trade, foreign investment, tourism and technology through economic diplomacy. The division has collected necessary suggestions through seminars with stakeholders.
As Nepal is set to graduate from a Least Developed Country by 2026, the ministry works to formulate necessary strategy in coordination with development partners and other stakeholders to make the process smooth and sustainable. In addition, Dr Rana has been advocating for continued support from the international community in this regard.
Advocacy for climate justice
Dr Rana represented Nepal at the International Court of Justice in The Hague last month and drew global attention to the problems faced by Nepal due to climate change, demanding climate justice for the nation. She claimed that Nepal should receive compensation as one of the most vulnerable countries. Since then, Nepal has taken climate diplomacy as a separate priority issue.
During her visit to Europe, she engaged in bilateral meetings with European Union leaders, European foreign ministers, and leaders, advocating for climate justice for Nepal. She also urged the removal of the European Union’s aviation safety ban on Nepali airlines.
Initiatives for the release of Bipin Joshi
Upon being appointed as the minister, Dr Rana’s first priority was to secure the safe release of Bipin Joshi believed to be held captive by Hamas. During her bilateral meetings with foreign diplomats, she urged her counterparts, ambassadors and officials of various countries to help secure his safe release.
Addressing the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last October, she requested the participating representatives to take initiatives for Joshi’s release. She made the same appeal during her address to the Third Summit of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Doha and bilateral meetings during the Eighth Indian Ocean Conference held in Muscat.
Dr Rana urged the foreign ministers of Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and Iran to take initiatives for Joshi’s freedom. Since Qatar and Egypt are mediating for peace talks between the Israeli government and Hamas.
Rescue efforts and support for Nepali diaspora
Moreover, Nepali students were in trouble after the protests in Bangladesh last July. Following this, the government of Nepal launched a search and rescue effort to ensure their safety. But the Ministry had difficulties in collecting their data as some of them departed without completing required process.
News flooded social media and News media, blaming the Ministry for failure to rescue them earliest. But the Nepali embassy in Dhaka had a different story to tell. It lacked sufficient manpower for rescue efforts, the Ministry argued.
However, under the Ministry’s leadership, the Nepali embassy in Dhaka was fully mobilised, establishing a help desk for rescue efforts. The problem was resolved through diplomatic efforts.
Similarly, a few months ago, Nepali students in Odisha, India, faced trouble following the mysterious death of a Nepali student at KIIT University. Following this, Dr Rana immediately asked the Nepali ambassador in New Delhi to understand and ensure security of Nepali students there. Two security personnel were deployed.
She separately spoke to the Higher Education Minister in Odisha State and the Chief Minister on the phone, urging them to take strict action against the culprits and to make arrangements for the safety of Nepali students in the university.
Following this, the college assured safety of Nepali students while dismissing those university employees who were found involved in mistreating Nepali students. Later, the college reinstated those Nepali students who returned to Nepal.
The ministry has been giving priority to the rescue and assistance of the Nepali diaspora and it continues to work to ensure the Nepali diaspora get consular services regularly. In some countries, consular services are also being provided through a mobile service.
UN’s help sought
Nepal has fielded candidacies for key positions in international bodies, especially for membership in the UN Human Rights Council (2027 to 2029), the Economic and Social Council (2029 to 2031) and as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2037 to 2038). Addressing the 58th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last February, Dr Rana sought votes from all member states of the United Nations.
She also sought help from foreign ministers, leaders and international organisations of various countries. During the address, she expressed Nepal’s firm commitment to human rights, peace and democracy.
Meanwhile, Dr Rana has continued to make efforts to further strengthen and expand Nepal’s diplomatic relations while keeping in mind the country’s interests and national concerns.
Security and rescue efforts for Nepalis during Israel-Iran conflict
During the recent Israel-Iran conflict, the ministry accorded high priority to the security of Nepali citizens. The ministry called on both sides to resolve the problem through dialogue. It also issued a travel advisory, instructing Nepali citizens in Israel and Iran to adopt maximum vigilance from a security perspective, and Nepali ambassadors in the respective countries to coordinate for the security of Nepali citizens.
The Ministry directed all Nepali missions in the Gulf to facilitate visa processing and coordinate safe passage for Nepalis wanting to travel to safe places or border countries when some air routes were currently closed.
More than 600 people had registered their details through the Ministry’s online portal for repatriation.
Following the request to the Indian government, 11 of 16 Nepalis returned to Nepal with the help of the Indian Embassy in Iran, and the process for the release of the remaining five people in Iranian prisons began.
A rapid response team was formed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the concerned agencies for the safety, speedy rescue and repatriation of Nepalis in these countries. Rescue flights were also prepared for those in Israel who wanted to return to Nepal. However, this process has now halted after the ceasefire.
‘Shram Sansar App’ launched
The ‘Shram Sansar App’, a digital platform designed, aimed at collecting information and details of Nepalis living and working abroad. Dr Rana and Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharad Singh Bhandari jointly launched the app amid an event at the Ministry.
Once registered, users of the app will help the Nepali missions in the destination countries and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Labour get real-time information about the status, locations and needs of the Nepalis in foreign lands.
The app will also help provide consular service and enable prompt rescue and help in emergency situations.
The app is expected to be instrumental in addressing problems facing Nepalis abroad.
In addition, the app is believed to help those who have reached the destination country without a work permit obtain a ‘legalised labour permit’ by issuing a work permit from the Nepali embassy in the relevant country.
Earlier, in order to understand and address problems faced by Nepalis in labour destination countries, a task force has been formed under the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the involvement of the Ministries of Labour, Home, Law and Health.
Archiving service for consolidating ‘Institutional Memory’
The process of creating an ‘archiving system’ and establishing an e-library has begun to enhance the preservation and accessibility of institutional memory. This initiative aims to systematically store and manage data relating to bilateral or multilateral meetings or discussions and agreements with various countries, organisations and parties conducted by the Ministry. Once operational, the archiving system is expected to be instrumental in the management, security and preservation of necessary documents.
Understaffing a significant challenge
Despite notable progress, the Ministry continues to deal with several critical challenges. One of the primary issues is the difficulty in timely and effective promotion of Nepal’s foreign policy. Additionally, the lack of accurate and up-to-date data on Nepalis living and working abroad creates a significant challenge—particularly in times of crisis when rescue and support operations are required.
Understaffing at Nepali missions abroad is another major challenge. Many missions operate with limited workforce and inadequate infrastructure, affecting their ability to deliver essential consular services and maintain close engagement with the Nepali diaspora.
Moreover, there is a need to enhance the training, skills, and capacity of diplomatic staff to meet the standards and demands of working in advanced and complex international environments. Consolidating institutional capacity and investing in the professional development of foreign service manpower is essential for advancing Nepal’s diplomatic effectiveness globally.
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