- Thursday, 21 May 2026
Kathmandu, May 21: The Chief Commissioner of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Prem Kumar Rai, on Wednesday held a meeting with the representatives of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG).
During the meeting at the CIAA Office in Kathmandu, Chief of APG Delegation David Shannon and other officials were present.
The issues of discussion include the progress made by Nepal to exit the FATF Grey List, it is said.
Delegation Chief David stressed that Nepal should focus on reforms for further compliance to exit the ‘grey list’ in the critical areas, complete the task of national risk assessment as early as possible and firmly implement the action plan revised by the International Cooperation Review Group, according to a press statement issued by CIAA Spokesperson Suresh Neupane.
On the occasion, CIAA Chief Commissioner Rai thanked the APG for its assistance provided for Nepal’s exit from the FATF grey list.
The delegation was on a support visit to Nepal from 18 to 20 May 2026.
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02- Chances of rain likely in some provinces
Kathmandu, May 21: There is the influence of westerly winds, local winds, and a low-pressure area near the eastern region of the country, resulting in generally cloudy weather in the hilly and Himalayan regions of the country, the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said.
Generally cloudy weather is likely over the hilly and Himalayan regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces this afternoon.
The Division stated that partly cloudy conditions are likely over Madhesh Province as well as the Tarai regions of Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and the hilly and Himalayan regions of the remaining provinces, while the remaining Tarai regions are expected to remain mainly fair.
Later tonight, generally cloudy weather is likely in the hilly and Himalayan regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces. Partly cloudy conditions are likely over Madhesh Province as well as the Tarai regions of Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and the hilly and Himalayan regions of the remaining provinces, while the remaining Tarai regions are expected to remain mainly fair.
There is a possibility of moderate rainfall at a few places in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces, and at one or two places in Madhesh Province.
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03- Prakashchandra Nepal wins title of Open Nat’l Chess Tournament
Khotang, May 21: Prakashchandra Nepal of Damak in the district of Jhapa emerged victorious in the Open National Chess Tournament 2083 held in Diktel, Khotang.
Jointly organized by Nepal Sports Academy and Nepal Karate Federation, Khotang, Nepal won the championship by defeating Rahul Gurung on Wednesday. First runner up Gurung attended the championship from India’s Sikkim.
The evaluation committee of the tournament shared that Thendup Tamang of Sikkim won the third prize in the competition.
Chairman of Nepal Sports Academy, Sanjaya Kumar Rai, said that the first, second and the third prize winners received Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 in cash, trophies, medals and letters of appreciation, respectively.
A total of 51 chess players from across the country took part in the championship.
Chief of District Coordination Committee, Khotang San Bahadur Rai distributed prizes and awards to the winners.
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04- Digital platform launched to increase citizens’ participation in lawmaking
Kathmandu, May 21: A digital platform was launched to increase citizens’ participation in the lawmaking process. Unveiled on the occasion of this year’s Law Day, citizens can directly send their feedback and disagreements on the drafts of the Acts and Bills. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sobita Gautam said that the digital platform was made public to ensure citizens’ direct access to the lawmaking process.
She viewed that the platform was introduced by realizing the context of poor public participation in the lawmaking process, though the laws are made for the people. Minister Gautam added that his move was aimed at increasing both legal awareness and public participation. Citizens can offer their direct feedback on the drafts of the bills and laws by visiting the website of the Ministry, it is said.
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05- Honey production declines in Chitwan
Chitwan, May 21: Honey production has decreased in Chitwan district this year as compared to last year. The authorities shared that the district witnessed more than a 16 percent decline in honey production this year.
Chief of Beekeeping Development Centre in Bhandara, Sujan Amgain, stated that a total of 450 metric tonnes of honey was produced this year against 540 metric tonnes of last year. Nearly 450 commercial farmers have kept more than 17,500 beehives in the district.
It is said that the unseasonal rain occurred this year resulted in reduced production of honey. Limited production of mustard and chiyuri due to the unseasonal rain happened this year caused a decline in honey production, Amgain added.
Generally, farmers harvest honey thrice in the mustard fields and five times in the chiyuri forest areas but this was heavily reduced this year. This year, only 30 per cent of the total beekeepers harvested honey from mustard and chiyuri farms against a 70 per cent of the normal practice.
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06- Power supply disrupted in some parts of three districts
Damauli, May 21: Power supply was disrupted following a technical issue in a 12 MVA power transformer of 220/132/33 KV substation of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) at Markichowk of Aanbukhairani Rural Municipality-2 in Tanahun district.
According to NEA’s Tanahun Distribution Centre, the power supply was disrupted at 5:32 pm on Wednesday after an excessive current flow due to some technical issues in the transformer’s earthing system.
The power supply in Aanbukhairani of Tanahun district, Gorkha district and some parts of Chitwan was cut off after the technical issues in the power grid.
A technical team from the NEA’s Pokhara Grid Division was mobilized to fix the technical problems but the results did not last long.
Information Officer of Tanahun Distribution Centre, Beni Nepali, said that the transformer was shut down at 6:47 am today following the repeated issues in the earthing system though the transmission line was brought into operation at 12:45 midnight.
Information Officer Nepali added that efforts are ongoing to resume the power supply through an alternative power grid.
Currently, the team of the NEA’s Pokhara Grid Division is working to resolve the technical parts of the substation in Markichowk.
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07- Former SC Justice Pradhan passes away
Kathmandu, May 21: Former Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) Har Govinda Singh Pradhan passed away. Pradhan breathed his last on Wednesday. He was 97.
The SC has also given a holiday today to mourn the demise of former SC Justice Pradhan, according to SC Spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala.
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08- Experts emphasize on prudent use of AI in higher education
Kirtipur (Kathmandu), May 21: Experts from SAARC countries have emphasized the wise use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the service of humanity. Experts believe that the government should formulate policies as soon as possible to prevent its misuse.
Experts said this in the policy dialogue entitled “Charting Responsible and Innovative AI Integration in Higher Education”, which started in the capital on Wednesday. The dialogue programme is organised by Tribhuvan University with financial support from the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The programme is attended by vice-chancellors, professors and researchers from prestigious universities of Nepal, as well as China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan, among other countries.
At the programme, Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University, Prof Sushil Bahadur Bajracharya stressed on the need to make higher education more qualitative, effective and aligned with the global context through the conscious use of artificial intelligence.
He expressed the view that professors and students should be made proficient in the use of artificial intelligence and focused on institutional development, research efficiency should be enhanced, and the government should formulate policies and laws to facilitate the use of artificial intelligence.
Ambassador of China to Nepal, Chang Miaoming, expressed the view that the development of AI has brought widespread changes to the human thinking system, and stated that the Chinese government has increased investment in research to ensure the sustainable use of artificial intelligence and to face potential challenges.
Stating that artificial intelligence has brought conceptual changes in higher education, he said, “All countries should emphasize the positive and human-utilitarian use of technology through mutual cooperation and collaboration.”
The International Institute for Online Education (IIOE) Nepal was also launched on the occasion. A MoU to initiate this body was signed by TU Acting Rector Prof Dr Shankar Prasad Khanal and Ms Bi Xiaohan, Deputy Director of the UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (UNESCO-ICHEI).
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09- Madhes Province’s economic growth rate to be limited to 13.1 per cent
Janakpur, May 21: The economic growth rate in Madhes Province is projected to remain weak in the current fiscal year due to relatively low contribution of paddy, fishery and forestry sectors, in addition to the negative growth in the agriculture sector.
This is indicated in the macroeconomic indicators related to provincial gross domestic product (GDP) released by the National Statistics Office, Statistics Coordination Office, Dhanusha, on Wednesday.
Statistics Officer Nara Bahadur Kunwar shared that the province would achieve the lowest economic growth rate in the past three years as insufficient rainfall has negatively impacted paddy and fish production.
The economic growth rate was 3.18 per cent in the fiscal year 2080/81 BS and 2.72 per cent in the fiscal year 2081/82 BS in Madhes Province.
According to the Office, the economic growth rate is decreasing due to negative impacts on Madhes’s agro production for two consecutive years.
Similarly, the preliminary estimation indicates that Madhes Province’s contribution to the national gross domestic product would be 13.1 per cent in fiscal year 2082/83 BS.
On the occasion, member of Provincial Policy and Planning Commission, Raj Kishor Singh, opined that such problem has surfaced due to decrease in agriculture sector’s contribution in Madhes Province.
Agriculture, education, health, infrastructure and social development would be prioritized in coming budget, he added.
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10- Shram Sanskriti Party demands regular presence of PM, ministers in parliament
Kathmandu, May 21: Soon after the beginning of today’s meeting of the House of Representatives, lawmakers of the Shram Sanskriti Party stood up from their seats and demanded Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal to allocate time to put forth their views.
Following the demand of Shram Sanskriti Party, Speaker Aryal allocated time to the Chairperson of the party, Harka Raj Rai, to put forth his view.
On the occasion, Chairperson Rai asked the Prime Minister and ministers to regularly be physically present in the HoR meetings and respond the queries raised by lawmakers.
He also drew government’s attention to respond the issues including border security and management of landless squatters at a time when Prime Minister Balendra Shah has taken the charge of both Home and Defense Ministries.
Sharing that his attention has been drawn towards the Chair Rai’s statement, Speaker Aryal urged the lawmakers of the Shram Sanskriti Party to take their seats.
On Wednesday, the lawmakers of the party had protested carrying placards in the parliament, demanding government’s accountability to parliament.
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11- Speaker informs House about proper management of ‘urgent time’ during HoR meetings
Kathmandu, May 21: Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal has said that the matter of ‘urgent time’ in the House of Representatives (HoR) would be made more systematic in the coming days after discussing it in the Business Advisory Committee.
The Speaker said so as some more MPs stood up to speak when he was about the initiate the ‘zero hour’ when some members had finished expressing their views on current issues in the ‘urgent time’ and the time for the ‘urgent time’ was already over in today’s meeting of the HoR. After this Speaker Aryal urged the MPs who wanted to speak in the ‘urgent time’ to sit.
After MPs Rajendra Kumar Rai, Balawati Sharma and others stood up from their seats to speak at that time, the Speaker stated that there is a parliamentary practice where one can request and be allowed time to speak on highly important events and issues affecting the lives of the people of the country that have arisen between the end of the previous meeting and the current one.
If the topics that MPs have prepared to speak on do not seem sensitive at the time, the Speaker may choose not to allot time for them.
Speaker Aryal gave time to additional members than the designated ones to speak during the urgent time, since the members who had risen from their seats did not sit and kept on standing.
There is a parliamentary practice to draw attention to contemporary issues during the urgent time as well as the zero hour and special time.
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(Time:14:00)
(Editors: Deep Raj Sanyal, Mahendra Subedi & Avilasha Pokhrel)
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