- Saturday, 30 August 2025
Kathmandu, July 4: Today’s meeting of the National Assembly (NA) has passed two bills: Finance Bill-2082 BS and National Debt Collection Bill-2082 BS.
The Upper House endorsed these bills and forwarded them to the House of Representatives.
In the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel presented the proposal that these bills, received from the House of Representatives (HoR) with a message, be passed without any amendment and sent back to the HoR.
The proposal was unanimously passed. During the deliberations, Minister Paudel clarified that luxury tax was imposed on gold ornaments to make gold transactions more transparent and to address international communities’ concerns on this matter.
Addressing the queries raised by parliamentarians during the clause-wise discussion on the Finance Bill-2082 BS, the Minister emphasized policy and legal reforms to remove Nepal from the ‘Grey List’.
It may be noted that Nepal is currently on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s Grey List due to deficiencies in its system to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
Minister Paudel, in the meeting, mentioned that the policy provisions were made to mitigate the potential impacts stemming from Nepal’s inclusion into Grey List. “This will ensure transparency in gold transaction and bring the trade into tax net thereby curbing illegal trade,” he argued.
Furthermore, responding to the queries of lawmakers on the National Debt Collection Bill-2082 BS, Minister Paudel claimed that the budget for the upcoming fiscal year has proven to be the best on in terms of appropriation, revenue estimates, international aid and international debt among others.
The incumbent government on May 29 announced an annual budget of Rs 1.964 trillion for the fiscal year.
He also expressed his confidence that the internal debt would be mobilized for productions, productivity growth and capital expenditure.The NA had rejected amendments proposed by the lawmakers regarding the bills by a majority.
The NA’s next meeting will be held on coming Tuesday on July 9.
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Discussions on Bagmati budget begins from today
Bagmati, July 4: Bagmati Provincial Assembly will begin discussing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year in its meeting today. The discussion has started after an agreement was reached between the ruling and the opposition parties.
According to Provincial Assembly Secretary Ram Kumar Poudel, the agenda includes discussions on the budget brought by the provincial government and registration of proposal for expenditure deduction after the response of Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Kundan Raj Kafle.
The provincial government has presented a budget proposal of Rs 67.47 billion for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26.
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Heavy vehicles banned from plying Karnali Highway
Kakrebihar (Surkhet), July 4: The operation of heavy vehicles along the Karnali Highway has been temporarily banned after a road collapsed at Gothebhir in Tilgufa Municipality-6 in Kalikot district today morning.
According to the District Police Office, Kalikot, authorities restricted the heavy vehicles from plying the Highway
from today itself following the road collapse to ensure the safety of passengers. “We urge one and all to observe extreme caution while travelling on this Highway as it is extremely risky to travel on the Highway due to incessant rain,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Tek Bahadur Rawal.
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DPM Paudel requests Malaysian entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal
Kathmandu, July 4: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has urged Malaysian investors to further invest in Nepal’s physical infrastructure and tourism sectors.
During the meeting with delegation of Malaysia-Nepal Business Council, which arrived here for an official visit on Wednesday, DPM Paudel shared that there is immense potentials in Nepal’s infrastructure development and tourism sector and requested for the same.
“There is appropriate environment for private sector to invest in Nepal. Nepal’s policies are investment-friendly. The government is ready to support and facilitate them”, mentioned the Finance Minister.
The delegation members had shown their interest to invest on different sectors including information technology, trade, hydropower, infrastructure, environment and tourism.
President of Malaysia-Nepal Business Council, Pradeep Kumar Kakreja, Ganesh Kumar Bangah, MK Sangraham, among others were present on the occasion.
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Telephone service disrupted in three local levels of Humla
Simkot (Humla), July 4: Telephone service has been disrupted in three local levels of Humla district for more than two weeks leaving the service-recipients without reliable communication.
In Kharpunath rural municipalities, villages such as Pius, Bacchegauda and ward no 3 of Sunkhada have experienced frequent outages, with the network signal only appearing late at night, according to a local resident Shanti Shahi.
A telephone tower at Thana of Raya is dysfunctional now, she added. Likewise, in Sarkegaad, local residents of Syaltadi, Rip and Unapani villages report that the Nepal Telecom services are not functioning.
“Even if the mobile phone shows the signal, calls do not go through,” lamented Binod Fadera of Rip village. The rural municipality itself lacks operational connection of telecommunication, added a local business person Gagan Aidee.
Prolonged telecommunication disruption has plagued Piplang of Chankheli rural municipality for nearly a month. Locals must climb high hill to make calls as the network fails to function in their locality, shared Basuna Tamang, a local resident.
Chankheli rural municipality Chairperson Pyarilal Shahi attributed the disruption in the telecommunication services due to issues in the Nepal Telecom’s tower at Melchham.
Shahi mentioned that administrative works have been hampered due to lack of connectivity and local residents are also facing problems in communications.
Also, the delay surrounding the construction of 4G tower by the Nepal Telecom to provide network access to the rural municipality has further added to the woe of the local residents for reliable and convenient communication service.
Chief Administrator at Chankheli rural municipality Deepak Giri shared that they have been resorting to letter correspondence for administrative business in absence of reliable telecommunication services.
Much to the dismay, wireless internet installed by a private company is also not functioning effectively, he said.
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Finance Minister Paudel urges Malaysian investors to invest in Nepal
Kathmandu, July 4: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has urged Malaysian investors to increase their investments in Nepal’s physical infrastructure and tourism sectors.
In a meeting with a delegation of the Malaysia-Nepal Business Council currently in the capital at the ministry today, he requested them to invest while referring to the great potential in Nepal’s infrastructure development and tourism sector. “Nepal now has a suitable environment for investment from the private sector. Our policies are investment-friendly. The government is ready to provide necessary support and facilitation to this regard,” he said.
Members of the delegation on the occasion expressed interest in investing in information technology, trade, hydropower, infrastructure, environment, tourism and other sectors.
The delegation comprised Malaysia-Nepal Business Council Chair Pradeep Kumar Kukreja, Dr Chai Ki Khan, Ganesh Kumar Bangah, MK Sangrah, among others.
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35 people infected with COVID-19 in a week
Kathmandu, July 4: A total of 35 people have been found infected with COVID-19 in a week. Furthermore, in the last 24 hours, three people have been confirmed to be carrying the corona virus.
According to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, COVID-19 infection has been confirmed in 31 districts of Nepal since last December to the beginning of July. So far, 249 people have been confirmed COVID-19 positive. One person has died of the virus.
Meanwhile, considering the increased risk of COVID-19 infection, the Ministry of Health and Population has made COVID-19 surveillance more effective, by setting up health screening desks at 17 border checkpoints across the country. COVID-19 testing is carried out at health desks at all border checkpoints using the RDT method, MoHP spokesperson Dr Prakash Budathoki said.
The Ministry has also urged one and all to adopt standards such as wearing masks, washing hands with soap and water or using sanitizers, and paying attention to personal hygiene to avoid getting infected from respiratory ailments including COVID-19.
Those coming from COVID-19 affected areas and with symptoms similar to COVID-19 have also been suggested to stay in self-quarantine and isolation.
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Bill on Citizenship Act should be passed soon
Kathmandu, July 4: National Assembly Vice-Chair Bimala Ghimire has said that the Bill designed to amend the Citizenship Act, 2063 should be passed soon.
At an interaction on the Citizenship Bill organized by the Forum for Women, Law and Development here today, Ghimire said that the Bill can be moved forward by making necessary amendments to implement the provisions of the Constitution through the Act. She also urged the members of the National Assembly to focus on the discussion on this Bill.
She however called for caution to be sensitive to linguistic errors, as sometimes even legal words can cause confusion. Not paying attention to ‘and’ and ‘or’ can cause problems in sensitive issues like citizenship,” she said.
FWLD Director Advocate Sabin Shrestha urged the NA members to pass the bill quickly. He suggested removing the penalty for self-declaration from the bill and emphasized the need for accountability and transparency in the development of citizenship.
The bill has come to the NA after it was passed by the House of Representatives along with a provision to grant citizenship in the mother’s name as well.
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Govt.’s working to make transport sector more systematic: Minister
Dahal
Kathmandu, July 4: Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Devendra Dahal, has said that the government has given high-priority to making the transport sector more orderly.
He added that attention has been paid for policy-level reforms as well as its implementation.Inaugurating a new building constructed by Nepal Tipper and Truck Operator’s Committee at Chandragiri municipality-7 today, Minister Dahal mentioned that the Ministry has been working to amend different laws related to the transport sector in priority.
The Transport Minister shared that a provision to operate vehicles according to their load carrying capacity would be strictly enforced for sustainable use of Nepali roads and structures.
“Overloaded vehicles cause major damages to bridges and road of the country. So we ban the movement of such vehicles at bordering areas”, he shared, adding it was responsibility of all to protect country’s structures including roads and bridges.
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Minister Pandey urges accelerating bills related to aviation
Kathmandu, July 4: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Pandey has called for taking forward the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Bill and Air Services Authority of Nepal Bill-2081 BS at the earliest.
In the meeting of the Committee of International Relations and Tourism under the House of Representatives at Singha Durbar today, Minister Pandey assured that these bills will be advanced based on the recommendations from concerned committees, agencies, stakeholders and experts.
Acknowledging the need for the Civil Aviation Authority to function as separate structures such as regulatory and service provider to improve aviation safety, Pandey clarified that there were no confusion regarding structural division in these bills.
He informed that extensive discussions and consultations were held with stakeholders and experts while preparing these bills.
According to him, altogether 75 parliamentarians of the HoR had participated in the deliberations on these bills so far and further discussion is expected on the amendments on these bills.
Committee’s President Raj Kishore Yadav saw the urgency to take forward these bills with special priority, stating that the bills were linked to the country’s prestige and honour in the international stage.
He appealed with the lawmakers to seriously participate in the deliberations on these bills and cooperate for the passage of these bills.
Committee members such as Eknath Dhakal, Sudan Kirati, Hit Bahadur Tamang, Shisir Khanal, Bhim Acharya and Prabhu Shah among others unanimously agreed that these bills should be accelerated without any delay.
They also pointed out the need to pay a special attention should towards country’s aviation safety system.
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People will face injustice if proportional and inclusive system is
discouraged: Minister Gurung
Patan (Lalitpur), July 4: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung has said that people will face injustice if federalism including proportional and inclusive systems is discouraged.
Addressing an extended meeting of the central office bearers and secretariat of the Democratic Indigenous Nationalities Federation held in Godavari, Lalitpur today, Minister for Communications Gurung said that the slogan ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepalis’ only is not enough, peace, stability, an inclusive state with a federal structure, distribution of rights, and their own representation are necessary for prosperous and happy Nepalis.
“Federalism is needed to build an egalitarian society in a country that believes in multiculturalism” said Minister for Communications Gurung, while adding that the identity of the indigenous peoples should be maintained within the party.
“There are those within our party who are against federalism, who openly say that a provincial government is not needed. But if ethnic, linguistic and cultural problems are not addressed properly there will be conflict. When all ethnic groups are made to feel a sense of ownership over the state there will be no conflict, peace will be maintained Therefore, inclusive federalism is needed,” said Communications Minister Gurung.
He also pointed out the need to raise our voices for equality and rights based on awareness against class and caste-based exploitation. Emphasis should be placed on representation based on share of ethnic population.
President of the Democratic Indigenous Peoples Federation, Pasang Sherpa, stressed the need to hold the federation’s convention on time.
The meeting is scheduled to continue until Saturday.
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Nagarik Unmukti Party withdraws support to Sudurpaschim govt.
Sudurpaschim, July 4: The Nagarik Unmukti Party has decided to withdraw its support to the Sudurpaschim Province government. The parliamentary party meeting held in Dhangadhi today decided to take the decision after Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah dismissed Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Rameshwor Chaudhary, who was representing the party in the government.
Chief Minister Shah had dismissed Minister Chaudhary from his post on Thursday. The decision to withdraw support was based on a communication received from the party’s central leadership, said parliamentary party leader Ghanashyam Chaudhary.The Nagarik Unmukti Party is the fourth largest party in the provincial assembly with seven members.
Despite the withdrawal of support by Nagarik Unmukti, the Kamal Bahadur Shah-led government still holds a majority. In the 53-member Provincial Assembly, the ruling Nepali Congress has 18 members supported by CPN (UML) with 11 members.
The main opposition CPN (Maoist Centre) has 11 members, the CPN (Unified Socialist) has four (one suspended), one member is from RPP and one is an independent member.
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Contribution-based social security system to be implemented for
employees appointed from Shrawan
Kathmandu, July 4: Contribution-based social security system will replace pension and gratuity for employees appointed from the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83.
The Ministry of Finance has issued a circular today to all ministries, regulatory bodies, public institutions, boards, committees and institutions asking them to make arrangements to implement the social security system.
The Ministry of Finance has also requested to inform that the Government of Nepal will not bear the liability created due to not implementation of the contribution-based social security system.
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