- Saturday, 9 August 2025
Kathmandu, Aug 8: The report of the Legislative Management Committee on the Water Resources Bill, 2081 BS has been tabled in today’s meeting of the National Assembly.
The report was submitted at the upper house by Chairperson of the Committee, Tulsa Kumari Dahal. The bill makes various provisions regarding the conservation and multi-dimensional use of water resources.
Likewise, Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh presented the 62nd Annual Report of the Auditor General before the National Assembly.
At the meeting National Assembly Chair Narayan Prasad Dahal shared the contents of the letter received from the Office of the President related to the portfolio of the members of the Council of Ministers, and changes in the members of the thematic committees.
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Pilgrim dies after falling off a cliff in Bajura
Bajura, Aug 8: A pilgrim died after falling off a cliff near Bisnepani in Bajura district on Thursday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Biplav Ojha, 52, of Gokarneshwor municipality-5 in Kathmandu, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police at the District Police Office, Ikbal Hawari.
The incident took place when Ojha was returning to Nateshwori after visiting Badimalika. Hawari shared that problem has surfaced to pull out the body from a gorge due to incessant rainfall.
Though preparation was made to bring a helicopter of the Nepali Army for the rescue, it has not been possible due to adverse weather, added police.
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Diplomatic efforts on for search, rescue of Nepalis missing in Uttarakhand floods: Minister Rana
Kathmandu, Aug 8: Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana Deuba has said the government has been taking diplomatic measures for the search and rescue of the Nepali citizens said to be missing in flashfloods that occurred in Uttarakhand of India.
Taking to her social media account, Minister Rana shared that diplomatic efforts have been started for the search and rescue of the missing Nepali citizens soon after the news about some Nepalis missing since the incident were reported.
Expressing deep suddenness over the incident, she has said that the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has been directly to work actively in coordination with Indian government authorities for the search and rescue of the missing Nepali citizens.
Extending tributes to all those who lost their lives in the flashfloods, Foreign Minister Rana has extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.
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NA to provide scholarship in vocational education for Changunarayan folks
Bhaktapur, Aug 8: The Nepali Army (NA) is to offer scholarship to the residents of Changunarayan municipality in Bhaktapur district who aspire to pursue technical education in its academic institution at Kharipati.
According to the Municipality, the Nepali Army School of EME Polytechnic agreed to provide scholarship for four local students to study Diploma in Automobile Engineering and Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.
A seven-point MoU was recently signed between the Changunarayan Municipality and the NA’s School for the same.
Jivan Khatri, Mayor of the Municipality, and Mohan Kumar Shrestha, Chief Administrator of the Municipality signed the MoU on the behalf of the Municipality while NA’s Lieutenant Colonel Anup Dangol representing the School run by the NA.
As per the MoU, the Municipality will provide full scholarship for one student in each of the two diploma programmes, covering 50 per cent of the tuition fee per student.
The NA’s school agreed to allocate extra quotas to the Changunarayan Municipality for both programmes, shared Mayor Khattri, adding that the local students will be able to access technical education under the additional seats starting from this year.
As the School has currently opened the admissions, the Municipality has published a notice inviting applications from the interested and eligible candidates for the scholarship programmes.
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Price of gold up by 1000 rupee per tola
Kathmandu, Aug 8: The price of gold has increased by 1000 rupees per tola in the local market. According to the price fixed by the Federation of Nepal Gold Silver Dealers’ Association for today, the price of gold has reached Rs 199,400 per tola.
The yellow metal that was traded at Rs 198,400 per tola on Thursday increased by Rs 1,000 per tola today, reaching an all-time high.
Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 per tola. Silver was traded at Rs 2,315 per tola on Thursday and the price for total is Rs 2,325 per tola, according to the Federation.
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Butwal-Narayangadh road blocked yet again
Madhyabindu (Nawalparasi), Aug 8: The Butwal-Narayangadh road section has been closed for traffic yet again.
The Binayi Triveni Rural Municipality-2 Daunne section of Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Sustapur) along the East-West Highway remains blocked sine this morning after the road became muddy and slippery following continuous rainfall, said Superintendent of Police of District Police Office, Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Sustapur), Yadav Dhakal.
Vehicles have not been able to move due to slippery road while goods-laden trucks are getting stuck on the muddy road, he said.
The road near the Bishwakarma Temple in Binayi Triveni Rural Municipality-2 has been shut down repeatedly since the past few months. The Daunne hill was cleared during the expansion of the Butwal-Narayangadh road section leading to frequent shut down of the road section even following normal rain.
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13 – Water Resources Bill endorsed by NA
Kathmandu, Aug 8: A meeting of the National Assembly (NA) today unanimously passed the ‘ Water Resources Bill, 2081 BS’.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Deepak Khadka, proposed the meeting to endorse the Bill along with a message from the House of Representatives (HoR).
Prior to this, the NA session dedicated time to discuss about the Legislation Management Committee’s report regarding the Bill and the message received from the lower house.
Taking part in the deliberations, Bishnu Bahadur Bishwakarma, Krishna Bahadur Rokaya, Radheshyam Paswan, Gopal Bhattarai and Taraman Swanr expressed their views on various aspects of the Bill.
In response to their concerns, the Minister said the Bill aimed to exploring utilisation and management of water resources. As he said, the Bill did not talk about the inclusion as this has been already constitutionally guaranteed.
Meantime, the upper house session expressed sorrow over the demise of former member of the lower house, Khagaraj Sharma, passing a condolence motion towards that end. Sharma had passed away on July 21 at the age of 85.
The NA shall meet again at 1:15 pm on August 12.
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14- Alternative Development Finance Mobilization Bill discussed in
Finance Committee
Kathmandu, Aug 8: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) today held discussions on the Alternative Development Finance Mobilization Bill, 2081 BS.
During the discussions, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, highlighted the need for mobilization of new fiscal resources to pursue nation’s economic prosperity and the sustainable development.
As the Minister argued, it is necessary to increase investment in sustainable infrastructure and other sectors capable of yielding high results for overall development of the nation. “The identification of projects, their prioritization, internal resources management, promotion of domestic and foreign investment, and the proper intervention of various fiscal tools are warranted for the same.”
According to the Minister, the Bill consists of provisions aiming to mobilize alternative development financing through debenture, gold reserves, and other financial instruments so as to promote employment opportunities, sustainable economic development, long-term investment, and encourage private sector investment in public infrastructure.
Stating that mobilization of private capital and technology has remained limited and the scale of foreign aids has reduced when the government revenue has not been sufficient to address the country’s development needs, he said, amidst this situation, exploration and utilisation of alternative financing will be significant. .
“The existing laws have not incorporated provisions regarding the alternative financing, suggesting the need to bring a new law,” he said.
A total of 11 MPs have registered 66 amendments to the Bill. Voices have been raised for long to explore alternatives to the conventional practices of mobilizing fiscal resources.
The issue of seeking alternative sources of investment has been addressed in the budget since the last fiscal year. The government has also pursued a policy of mobilizing development aid through Blended Finance strategies.
As highlighted in the Bill, alternative financing for development can be pursued through a range of financial and monetary instruments, including various types of bonds, guarantee letters, and equity funds.
Alternative sources of financing refer to the process of raising funds through diverse means such as equity, debt, or crowd funding and so on.
Similarly, raising special loan, and establishing investment fund by collecting long-term capital from domestic or foreign investors for project with guarantee of the project implementation body are major methods of alternative financing.
The bill has incorporated the provision that a guarantee fund could be established to issue loan with full or partial guarantee from international financial institution.
Alternative financial sources could be used for power production, transmission and distribution project, road, railway, airport, tunnel route, industrial development infrastructures construction.
As per the draft of the bill, the Fund could be invested on national prioritized projects under public-private partnership implemented by the private sector. However, there would be no Fund’s investment on projects with the estimated cost of less than one billion rupees.
The authorized capital of the Fund will be Rs 100 billion and paid-up capital Rs 25 billion. A proposal of investing 51 per cent share (Rs 12.75 billion) of the government of Nepal. The government of Nepal, international financial institutions or foreign banks, employees’ provident fund, citizen investment fund, social welfare fund and insurance company would invest in the Fund.
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15 – CM Singh emphasizes adaptable farming
Mahottari, Aug 8: Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, Satish Kumar Singh underscored the need to adopt climate-resilient farming practices in the second Mango Symposium organized at Lalgadh in Dhanusha district today.
Pointing out the need to draw lessons from severe drought affecting the Madhesh Province this year, CM Singh urged the farmers to depart from traditional farming methods and consider adopting farming practices that are resilient to climate variability and change.
“Rice is the main crop of Madhesh Province but prolonged drought has made paddy plantation difficult,” said Singh, encouraging farmers to consider farming methods and practices that are drought-resilient.
Highlighting Madhesh Province’s leadership in Nepal’s mango production, he shared that the Province accounted for 70 per cent of country’s total mango production.
Towards this, the CM suggested utilizing the barren slops along the East-West Highway to expand farming of mango and other fruits and pledged full support on the part of the provincial government to farmers and local level in this regard.Stating that paddy plantation is not feasible in the absence of rainfall, he viewed that we should not delay any longer to consider viable alternatives.
He opined that planting trees in the barren lands across the Chure Area and along riverbanks would not only contribute to boosting agricultural outputs but also promote environmental balance.
The CM, on the occasion, proposed making Madhesh Province as the national mango production hub. “Currently, Madhesh Province contributes 70 per cent of total mango production in the country. Mango cultivation should be expanded further for more yields employing advance technology so that we could export it abroad.”
Similarly, Dr Umesh Dahal, Secretary at the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of the Madhesh Province, echoed that scientific mango production could significantly contribute to the Province’s economy.
Likewise, fruit expert Dr Shanta Karki presented an overview of mango production in the past and shed lights on the innovative technologies that could be used for mango farming.
Also, speaking in the one-day event, Maheshchandra Acharya, Chief of the National Fruits Development Centre, Kirtipur, shared that of the 52,975 hectares of land used for mango farming across the country, 34,798 hectare are in Madhesh Province.
According to him, the Madhesh Province produced 395,962 metric tonnes of mango this year, accounting for 70 per cent of the country’s total production.
The event was jointly organized by the government of Nepal, donor agency ICIMOD and various organizations such as Community Development and Advocacy Forum Nepal and Nepal Horticulture Society.
During the event, Izabella Koziell, Deputy Director General of the ICIMOD, reaffirmed her commitment to support to local level and provincial governments in sustainable mango farming.
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16 – Bill on Social Development Institutions passed unanimously
`Biratnagar, Aug 8: The ‘Bill designed to amend the Social Development Institutions Act, 2075’ was passed unanimously by Koshi Provincial Assembly.
The bill was passed unanimously at the meeting of the PA today after Koshi’s Minister for Social Development Panchkarna Rai proposed the Bill for approval at the House.
Earlier, Koshi Provincial Assembly members had expressed their views during the clause-wise discussion on the bill.
Responding to concerns from the MPs, Minister Rai said that the bill will help regulate, manage, promote and list social institutions that play an important role in social transformation.
The next meeting of the Provincial Assembly will be held on coming Sunday.
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Monsoon’s influence to prevail across the country today
Kathmandu, Aug 8: The low-pressure line of the monsoon is located to the north from average position in the Terai region of Nepal.
Although the monsoon influence is prevailing across the country, the impact of water vapour seems somewhat weak, the weather forecasting division indicated.
According to the division, the weather will generally be cloudy across the country this afternoon. There are high chances of heavy rainfall in hilly and Terai areas of Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces.
Likewise, a few places in the hilly areas of the rest of the country, and some areas of Madhes and the remaining Terai region may experience moderate rainfall, the division predicted.
There is a possibility of heavy rain in one or two places in the hilly areas of Lumbini province, including its Terai region, as well as in the hilly areas of Koshi, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces.
The weather is expected to remain generally cloudy across the country tonight. A moderate rainfall is likely to take place in some areas of the hilly regions of Madhes, Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki provinces, and a few places in the remaining hilly and Terai regions.
The division’s weather bulletin indicates possibility of heavy rain in one or two places in the hilly areas of Koshi and Bagmati provinces.
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02- Emergency embankment along Rapti River gives a respite to locals
Janaki (Banke), Aug 8: “In the advent of the rainy season, we were haunted by the fear of our village to be submerged. But this time, after the construction of emergency embankment along the river, we feel a sigh of relief,” said Jhindev Barma, a local resident of Narainapur.
Jhindev, aged over 60, has witnessed floods from the Rapti River wash away many human settlements. Remembering the past, he said, “The floods have panicked us several times. We have been rendered homeless during festivals, he added. “Even in the old age, I feel respite to see the emergency embankment built along the river.”
Ram Pyari Yadav from the same village also said they are assured that floods will not bring any tragic damage this year. “Every year we were worrying about the river when it was swollen. But this year, after the emergency embankment was constructed, there is no such tension,” she recounted.
According to Ram Pyari, floods predominantly affected women, children and senior citizen.
An emergency embankment has been built this year to protect the villages nearby the Rapti River from floods.
Several villages in Raptisonari and Narainapur municipalities of Banke, which were at high risk of flood, have been declared safe with the construction of the embankment.
The immediate risk has been mitigated as the River has changed its course after placing emergency embankment.
Two years ago, the flood-fed Rapti River had washed away the concrete embankment, and new structure could not be built in lack of resources, it is shared.
It pushed around a dozen nearby villages to high risk of flooding.
A 400-meter long emergency embankment has been constructed in Lamahi, Dang under the ‘People’s Embankment Programme’ by using new technology and local resources to prevent and control erosion.
Project chief Dr. Narayan Suvedi said that the work was completed in a short time. He shared that after the People’s Embankment Programme devised a temporary embankment in two months.
The emergency embankment built the municipality has changed the course of the river and helped prevent soil erosion, reported locals.
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03- RSP central committee meeting to take place today
Kathmandu, Aug 8: The central committee meeting of the Rastrioya Swatantra Party (RSP) is scheduled to take place today.
The meeting will discuss the progress report of the central departments, the investigation report on the tampering of cooling-off period in the civil service bill, and various contemporary political and party activities, the party sources informed.
According to party spokesperson Manish Jha, discussions will be held on 13 different agenda during the meeting.
The meeting will decide to designate responsibilities to the party’s former central committee members.
Also, the party will draw attention of the government and relevant authorities to arrange voting rights for Nepali citizens abroad, Jha said.
Discussions will take place regarding new appointments at the central and provincial departments of the party.
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04- Prime Minister Oli to return home today
Turkmenistan, Aug 8: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is returning home today after attending the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) held in Awaza, Turkmenistan.
The Prime Minister has left for Dubai via the Turkmenbashi International Airport this morning.
Deputy Chairman of Turkmenistan Cabinet of Ministers, Rasit Meredow saw off the Prime Minister at the airport at 8.30 am local time.
PM Oli is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu via Dubai at 11.05 pm today.
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05- PM Oli expresses sorrow over flood-triggered loss in Uttarakhand, India
Kathmandu, Aug 8: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has expressed sorrow over the loss and damage triggered by flash floods in the northern Indian State of Uttarakhand.
Taking to the social networking site today, PM Oli said he was saddened by the massive loss of lives and properties in the devastating incident of floods.
“I am worried of the tragic news related to big loss of lives and properties in the recent flash floods in northern state of neighbouring friendly nation, India. I offer tributes to those losing lives in the floods and landslides, and wished that the families in grief may obtain power to over the loss with patience”, the PM wrote.
The PM informed that as many as 17 Nepali nationals were reportedly trapped in the floods and diplomatic discussion was recently held via the Nepali Embassy for the rescue purpose.
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06- Landslide obstructs Baglung-Burtibang road
Dhorpatan, Aug 8: The Baglung-Burtibang road section along the Mid Hill Highway has been blocked after landslide occurred in Badigad rural municipality-2, Kharbang.
Police Inspector of the District Police Office, Baglung, Keshab Thapa informed that the road has been blocked since this morning.
Vehicles moving from west Baglung, Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Dolpa and Gulmi to Pokhara and Kathmandu have been halted on the road due to road disruption.
Heavy rainfall has hampered the efforts to resume road operations, Inspector Thapa added.
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