- Saturday, 30 August 2025
Kathmandu, Aug 17: There is possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in the hilly areas of Koshi and Bagmati Provinces today.
With the weather remaining generally cloudy across the country, there is also a possibility of moderate rainfall at some places in the Tarai and hilly areas of Koshi and Bagmati, and the hilly areas of the remaining provinces.
Tonight, the weather will be generally cloudy in Koshi, Madhesh, and the hilly areas of the remaining provinces, and partially cloudy at other places of the country. There is a possibility of moderate rainfall at a few places in the hilly and Tarai areas of Koshi, Gandaki, and Sudurpaschim Provinces, and the hilly areas of the remaining provinces, and at one or two places in the Tarai region.
There is a possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in the Tarai and hilly areas of Koshi Province.
The monsoon is has become weak though water vapor-rich air is still entering from the Bay of Bengal, adds the Department.
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02- Dry landslide blocks Narayangadh-Muglin road section
Bharatpur (Chitwan), Aug 17: The Narayangadh-Muglin road section has been blocked due to a dry landslide. The road section at Tuinkhola in Ichchakamana Rural Municipality-5 of Chitwan was blocked this morning due to a landslide.
According to Rabindra Khanal, Information Officer of the District Police Office, Chitwan, work is currently underway to remove the landslide debris using two machines. Rocks have reportedly fallen on the road.
As a result, vehicles including their passengers remain stranded.
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03- Two parliamentary committees meeting today
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Two parliamentary committees—the Infrastructure Development Committee and the Legislative Management Committee under the federal parliament are meeting today.
The Infrastructure Development Committee meeting is scheduled to discuss the condition of the Kodari Highway, Rasuwagadhi and other roads connecting the country in light of the obstruction caused by monsoon-induced rain. The condition of road transport and road infrastructure is being discussed considering the upcoming festivals and likelihood of huge traffic.
Likewise, the Legislative Management Committee meeting is scheduled to discuss the draft report on the Nepal Citizenship (Second Amendment) Bill, 2081 BS.
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04- 126 disaster-induced deaths in four months
Kathmandu, Aug 17: A total of 2,853 incidents of disasters have occurred across the country from mid-April 19 to mid-August this year. In the incidents, 126 people have lost their lives while 585 were injured.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, altogether 5,041 families have been affected while 23 people have gone missing due to disaster including 216 incidents of floods, 317 of landslides, 221 of heavy rains and 245 of lightning. Another 77 incidents of snakebites have also occurred across the country.
Similarly, 1,114 incidents of fires, 158 of wildfires, 277 of storms, 172 of wild animal attacks, 46 of landslides, five of earthquakes, two of boat capsizing, one incident of hailstorm and other disasters have occurred.
According to the NDRRMA, seven incidents of fire, one flood, eight landslides, four incessant rains, and three wild animal attacks occurred August 16 alone, which led to the death of one person.
The estimated damage caused by the disaster during this reported is around Rs 3.84 million.
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05- Narayangadh-Muglin road section open for traffic
Bharatpur (Chitwan), Aug 17: The Narayangadh-Muglin road section, which was blocked this morning due to a dry landslide, has been opened for traffic.
The road section at Tuinkhola in Ichchakamana Rural Municipality-5 of Chitwan had been blocked due to a landslide.
According to Rabindra Khanal, Information Officer of the District Police Office, Chitwan, traffic has resumed on the road sector after the landslide debris, including rocks that had fallen on the road were cleared.
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06- Electric crematorium to come into operation at Kankai Ghat
Baniyani (Jhapa), Aug 17: The Kankai Ghat in Kankai Municipality-4 of Jhapa is going to provide electric crematorium soon.
The construction of an electric crematorium on the eastern bank of the Kankai River has been completed at a cost of Rs 23 million. The initiative received Rs 20 million from the Koshi Province Government while the the Municipality contributed Rs 2 million and various donors added Rs 1 million.
Kankai Municipality Mayor Rajendra Kumar Pokharel a working procedure has been developed for operating the crematorium, that will come into formal operation within a week.
Gopal Kharel, General Secretary of the Kankai Ghat Management Committee and Coordinator of the Electric Crematorium Infrastructure Construction Committee, said that the body of an 80-year-old woman was cremated during a test of the machine. He said that it will take about 50 minutes to cremate a full-size human body in the electric crematorium. Earlier, it would to take 3 to 3.5 hours to cremate a body using firewood.
The electric crematorium is expected to save firewood and also the time consumed in the traditional cremation, while also helping in environmental protection.
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07- Indian Foreign Secretary arrives on two-day visit
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Foreign Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, arrived here this morning for a two-day official visit.
Secretary Misri, who is here at the cordial invitation of Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, will hold discussions with his Nepali counterpart on various aspects of the Nepal-India partnership, with a focus on connectivity, development cooperation and other matters of mutual interest, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Indian Foreign Secretary is also scheduled to call on high-level dignitaries of Nepal. He is scheduled to leave Kathmandu tomorrow.
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08- Couple electrocuted by elephant-deterrent power line
Rajbiraj (Saptari), Aug 17: A couple died due to electrocution in Pipara of Kanchanrup Municipality-5 of Saptari this morning. The deceased have been identified as 50-year-old Badri Sardar and his 45-year-old wife Bimala Devi, said Madhav Prasad Kafle, Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Area Police Office, Kanchanpur.
Mahendra Sardar of Pipara, Kanchanrup-5, had installed a live electric wire to protect the paddy crop from elephants. The Sardar couple died after falling on the same exposed wire.
They were going to their farmland about 150 meters east of their house, when the incident took place early this morning, according to the police.
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Naubise-Nagdhunga tunnel nears completion: PM Oli
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the construction of the Naubise-Nagdhunga Expressway has neared the completion. The PM took to social site today to share information about this with the public.
As he said, the project reports 93 per cent physical progress, hoping that it would come into operation soon, causing a great convenience to the public movement.
Earlier, the Council of Ministers on August 11 determined the charges for vehicles to pass through the 2.688 kilometers long infrastructure once it comes into operation.
The charge is Rs 65 for a car and van while coming to Kathmandu and Rs 60 as an exit fees, it is Rs 115 and Rs 80, respectively, for minibus and truck, Rs 260 and Rs 200 for bus and truck, respectively, and Rs 600 and Rs 200 respectively for heavy vehicles.
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10- Indian Foreign Secretary pays courtesy call on PM Oli
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Foreign Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, has paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli earlier today.
The Indian Foreign Secretary arrived in Kathmandu this morning for a two-day official visit at the cordial invitation of Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai.
The meeting between Prime Minister Oli and Indian Foreign Secretary Misri was held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minister, Singha Durbar.
PM Oli’s Chief Advisor Bishnu Prasad Rimal, Officials of the Foreign Ministry and Indian Ambassador to Nepal were present on the occasion.
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11- Landslide blocks Narayangadh-Muglin road section again
Bharatpur (Chitwan), Aug 17: The Narayangadh-Muglin road section, which was opened for traffic after clearing the landslide earlier today, is again blocked after a landslide.
The road section near Tuinkhola in Ichchhakamana Rural Municipality-5 of Chitwan was obstructed due to the landslide occurred at around 9:30 am, police mentioned.
Earlier, the road was cleared for traffic from 8:00 am by clearing the road obstructions caused due to the landslide.
According to Rabindra Khanal, the Information Officer of the District Police Office, Chitwan, the road section was blocked again after the landslide occurred in the same place.
DSP Khanal shared that works are underway to remove the landslide debris. Vehicles including their passengers have remained stranded there at present.
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12- Govt. unveils fresh provisions to promote uniformity in infertility
treatment
Kathmandu, Aug 17: The Ministry of Health and Population has endorsed the Standard for the Operations of Infertility Management Services (IVF), 2082 BS. It was decided and endorsed by a recent ministerial-level meeting.
The newly-endorsed standard aims to regulate infertility treatment services across Nepal, covering critical aspects such as laboratory operations, human resource management, and the procedures for sperm and egg donation which are considered particularly sensitive in reproductive health care.
According to Dr Saroj Sharma, Chief of the Ministry’s Quality Standard and Regulation Division, the Standard will promote uniformity in infertility treatment and establish a legal foundation for effective monitoring of service providers.
“It guarantees minimum requirements in terms of physical infrastructure, qualified human resources and labs, transparency in service fees, and the protection of rights for both service seekers and donors,” he added.
“Infertility is not only a ‘sensitive’ reproductive health issue, it is also a social and psychological one. This Standard is expected to become a milestone in streamlining infertility services and improving service quality with transparency,” Sharma stated.
Ministry Spokesperson Dr Prakash Budathoki also underscored the significance of the new standard in enhancing the reproductive health sector.
“Infertility cases have been rising in recent years. However, concerns have grown over the quality of services and the procedures. With the implementation of this Standard, those issues will now be properly addressed,” he said.
The new norms warrants that health facilities must obtain prior permission from the Ministry before initiating Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) services. Similarly, such facilities are required to employ infertility specialists, trained embryologists, anesthesiologists, and other trained personnel.
It also mandates technical requirements for room temperature control in laboratories and surgical wards with the provisions of service fees to be regulated and determined by the Ministry.
Likewise, at least 10 per cent of services must be provided free of cost to individuals from impoverished communities.
In terms of donor criteria, egg or sperm donors must be between the ages of 20 to 35 and medically certified to be free from infectious diseases. In the case of married donors, written mutual consent is required.
It adheres to a one-time donation policy as donors are allowed to donate only once, and their identity must remain confidential.
In addition to this, forced or incentivized donation is strictly prohibited.
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13 – Landslides obstruct Kalikot section along Karnali Highway
Manma (Kalikot), Aug 17: Vehicular movement at different places in Kalikot district along the Karnali Highway was obstructed from Saturday night due to landslides occurred following an incessant rainfall.
The landslides have occurred at Gaganekhola (rivulet) of Kalikot, SkidkiJyula of Dailekh, near Nagma, the border of Jumla and Kalikot, said Chief of Kalikot Police, Tej Bahadur Rawat.
Activities are underway to remove the landslide debris at Gagane and Bihani, he added. Similarly, motorcycles and light vehicles have not been able to operate their service due to flood on Phugad stream.
Vehicles heading towards Surkhet from Kalikot were stranded at different places due to vehicular disruption.
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14 – Traffic resumed along Narayangadh-Muglin road section
Bharatpur (Chitwan), Aug 17: The Narayangadh-Muglin road section, which was blocked this morning due to a dry landslide, has been opened for traffic.
The road section at Tuinkhola in Ichchakamana Rural Municipality-5 of Chitwan had been blocked due to a landslide.
According to Rabindra Khanal, Information Officer of the District Police Office, Chitwan, traffic has resumed on the road sector after the landslide debris, including rocks that had fallen on the road were cleared.
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15 – Preparations over for HKH Parliamentarians’ Meet-2025
Kathmandu, Aug 17: The entire preparations were over for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Parliamentarians’ Meet-2025, which is scheduled to begin in Kathmandu on Monday.
The event aims to explore common understandings, dialogues and coordination among the parliamentarians of the nations in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, it is said.
The two-day event to be technically assisted by the ICIMOD will be participated by parliamentary representatives from Nepal, India, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Pakistan. Afghanistan has not been invited to the meet as Nepal has not yet recognized the incumbent government of Afghanistan.
President Ramchandra Paudel will be attending the meet as the Chief Guest while Speaker Devraj Ghimire will attend it as the Special Guest.
An inaugural session is scheduled to commence at 9:30 am tomorrow and the session will be attended by the President, Speaker, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Forest and Environment, ICIMOD Director General Pema Gyamtsho and special dignitaries from various nations.
The inaugural session will be followed by various technical sessions.
The meet will have the participation of around 30 people who include parliamentarians, chairs and representatives of parliamentary committees from the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, as well as experts on climate change, air pollution, and environmental issues.
In addition, representatives from partner organizations, experts from Nepal’s Federal Parliament, and relevant government officials will also turn up in the event.
The meet is being organized in coordination with the Ministry of Forests and Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Organising Committee Coordinator Bir Bahadur Balayar confirmed that the entire preparations for the meeting have been over.
The issues of climate change in the Hindu Kush region, its impacts on environment and bio-diversities, disasters risk and challenges will be discussed in-depth in the meeting.
“The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region is increasingly facing severe impacts of climate change, disaster risks, biodiversity loss, and pollution alongside accelerated socio-economic shifts with serious implications to ecosystems, natural resources, livelihoods and human life. Given the significant role of parliamentarians in policymaking, legislation, and shaping public opinion, parliamentarians from the HKH countries can be crucial in advancing the region’s climate action and resilience agenda,” the ICIMOD cites on its official website.
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16 – Shah receives Subodh Memorial Journalism Award
Birgunj (Parsa), Aug 17: Journalist Kranti Shah of Birgunj was honoured with the Subodh Memorial Journalism Award.
Shah, a photo journalist with Annapurna Post Daily, was honoured with the award established by Prateek Publications Group in memory of photo journalist Subodh Singh of Birgunj.
The award caries a purse of Rs 51,000.
Mayor of Birgunj Metropolitan City Rajesh Man Singh presented the award to Shah at a programme organised here on the 39th anniversary of Prateek Daily.
Similarly, Pramod Yadav was honoured with the best correspondent title. He received Rs 15,000 and a certificate.
Likewise, President of Federation of Nepali Journalists of Parsa chapter, Om Prakash Khanal, was honoured with the title of the best columnist. He received Rs 10,000 and a certificate.
Youth journalist Surya Narayan BK was honoured with Late Chiranjivi Koirala Memorial Journalism Award. The award carries a purse of Rs 15,000. On the occasion, Mayor Singh pointed out the need of joining hands for the development of disciplined journalism while Chief District Officer of Parsa, Ganesh Aryal, shared that journalism should reflect the society.
Chief Editor of Prateek Daily, Jagadish Sharma, shared his views stressing the need of professional journalism.
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17- Bagamati Province to provide journalists with free insurance scheme
Bhaktapur, Aug 17: The Health Ministry of the Bagmati Province Government has announced a free insurance facility for journalists from 13 districts in the province.
Province Health Minister Kiran Thapa talked about this policy to media in Bhaktapur today.
As he said, the government was serious about the health issues of journalists and will be launching an insurance scheme for journalists within the province. The insurance premiums will be paid by the province government, he added.
Minister Thapa also assured that the insurance process will be simplified and made transparent and user-friendly, with a focus on digital accessibility.He said the Ministry has allotted Rs 2 million for the implementation of the programme in the current fiscal year.
According to the Minister, various campaigns such as “My Health, My Responsibility, One Hour for Myself”, “One District, One Healthy City”, and “One Local Level, One Model Health Institution” will be launched in the current fiscal, reflecting the government’s priority to the health sector.
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18 – Gandaki Province to be developed as medical hub: CM Pandey
Gorkha, Aug 17: Chief Minister of Gandaki Province, Surendra Raj Pandey, has shared that a target has been set to develop the Gandaki Province as the medical hub.
Inaugurating Gorkha NPI Hospital at the district headquarters today, he opined that the the Gandaki province government has allocated 10 per cent of its total budget in the health sector by keeping this top priority in the current fiscal year.
The Chief Minister also pointed out the possibility of developing Gandaki as the centre of health tourism, adding that activities were underway in a planned manner with this purpose.
“We cannot stop youths from going abroad without creating new opportunities. Creating employment opportunities in the health sector is our goal and we are carrying out activities to create a lucrative employment opportunity for specialist doctors, nurses and health workers within the province,” he argued.
Chief Minister Pandey underlined that the government has a policy to encourage the private sector to invest in the health sector.
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19- India’s Foreign Secretary Misri calls on President Paudel
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Visiting Foreign Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, paid a courtesy call on President Ramchandra Paudel today at the Office of the President, Shital Niwas.
On the occasion, President Paudel stated that Nepal has benefited from the progress of its close neighbor, India, and expressed hope to benefit even more in the future.”We are pleased with the progress achieved by India, an emerging international power, in the socio-economic and technological sectors.
As a good friend and close neighbor of India, Nepal has gained from such progress and hopes to benefit even more in the future,” said Kiran Pokhrel, the President’s Press Advisor, quoting the President.
Highlighting the longstanding social, cultural, religious, spiritual, economic, and people-to-people relations between Nepal and India, the President said that these ties are founded on sovereign equality, friendly cooperation, mutual respect, and trust.
President Paudel reiterated that Nepal always accords top priority to its relations with India and applauded India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy, which underscores the importance it places on relations with neighboring countries.
In response, Foreign Secretary Misri affirmed that Nepal remains among India’s top priorities under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He added that during his two-day official visit to Nepal, he looks forward to engaging with relevant officials to discuss extending connectivity and enhancing development cooperation between the two countries, in line with the needs of the modern era and mutual interests.
Foreign Secretary Misri arrived in Kathmandu this morning at the cordial invitation of Nepal’s Foreign Secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai.
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20 – Home Minister Lekhak directs officials for result-oriented performance
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has directed the employees of subordinate bodies to serve the national interests and ensure an accessible atmosphere to the public for getting government services.
Speaking at the signing of a work performance agreement with the Home Secretary and the heads of various departments and divisions of the Ministry today, Minister Lekhak acknowledged that there have been major accomplishments in curbing drug abuse, road accidents, suicides, and cybercrime adding that tangible outcomes will require more time.
Highlighting drug abuse, road fatalities, cybercrime, and suicide as the pressing challenges of the time, the Minister echoed the need for measurable results within the current fiscal year. He also instructed that the post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in the western Nepal be completed within in the fiscal year.
The Minister extended his congratulations and appreciation to all those who contributed to the Home Ministry’s 88 percent progress achieved in the last fiscal year. He added that success and failure are shared responsibilities in a team work.
Minister Lekhak said that progress on the bills related to the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force has been delayed due to some technical issues.
He urged the stakeholders to work assiduously to ensure these bills are registered in the House of Representatives within this month. “Policy and legal reforms remain our top priority, and works are progressing accordingly,” the Home Minister affirmed.
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21 – Bring proposals to ensure positive administrative results, PM says
Kathmandu, Aug 17: The second meeting of the High-Level Administrative Reforms Commission held discussions on the issues of dissolving some irrelevant organisations, their merger or handing over them to the province or local levels.
The meeting held today at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers was chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
The meeting has assigned the Commission’s Implementation Committee to bring a concrete proposal by conducting an in-depth study about the dissolution, merger and bodies recommended to handover.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Oli directed the Implementation Committee to bring a proposal within 15 days along with alternatives that could bring positive results to meet the objectives.
Chief Secretary Eaknarayan Aryal is the coordinator of the Implementation Committee. A cabinet meeting held on April 21 had formed the Commission under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Oli in order to make public service simplified, accessible and frugal.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Bhagawati Neupane, among others are the ex-officio members of the Commission.
This is the first meeting of the Commission after the participation of political parties’ representation, Purna Bahadur Khadka from the Nepali Congress and Ram Bahadur Thapa of CPN (UML), and three expert members.
At the meeting, the proposal for the revision of the Job Description of federal, province and local levels and its approval from the National Coordination Council as well as its submission to the Council of Minister was shared.
The Commission has the ToR to ensure intergovernmental relations, end duplications in work execution, make the decision making process simplified and result-oriented by ensuring technology-friendly procedures and structures of the service providing agencies.
Furthermore, the ToR includes strengthening of cooperation among three layers of government, ensure reforms in the existing administrative mechanisms and laws, and other instruments to align them with federalism.
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22 – Linguistic inclusion embraces aspirations of federalism: Minister Gurung
Kathmandu, Aug 17: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has mentioned that linguistic inclusion in the country has incorporated the aspirations of federalism.
At a Programme organised by Association of Tamang Journalists here today, Minister Gurung shared that the inclusive policy has become effective in the state-owned media agencies.
Also the Spokesperson of the government, Gurung argued that efforts are underway to strengthen federalism as per the sentiments of inclusion by disseminating news and contents in different mother languages by the , Public Service Broadcasting (Radio Nepal and Nepal Television) and Gorkhapatra Daily.
Sharing that the Gorkhapatra Daily has been publishing news and contents on 45 mother languages, Radio Nepal in 25 mother languages and RSS in three mother languages, the Communications Minister opined that priority has been given to the linguistic inclusion in media.
He added RSS has been making preparations to disseminate news in the Tamang language in the current fiscal year.On the occasion, the Minister shared that the Media Council Bill was in the final stage and also added that the AI Policy was endorsed which will be instrumental to materialize the vision of Digital Framework Nepal.
According to Minister Gurung, the government was doing homework for developing physical infrastructure to implement AI Policy, strengthen 4G Network, begin 5G Network and open the Data Centre.
On the occasion, journalists Tikaram Tamang and Malati Moktan were prized.Also speaking at the event, Minister for Drinking Water, Energy and Irrigation of Bagmati Province Krishna Kumar Tamang pledged to bring the Tamang language for the official use in the province.
Chairman of Tamang Journalists’ Association Netra Tamang stated that the prize was established for the career development of journalists from the Tamang community.
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