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The Supreme Court has also quashed the habeas corpus writ petition in the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

A joint bench of Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Nahkul Subedi scrapped the petition filed by the four prisoners.

Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Sah, Bhatbhateni Supermarket Chairman Min Bahadur Gurung and former employee of Land Revenue Office Dharma Prasad Gautam filed a petition at the Supreme Court after the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) started an investigation by arresting them.

Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, was released this afternoon.

The Supreme Court has issued an order to release Raut. Secretary Raut will not be allowed to leave Nepal until the case is settled

The apex court directed the police to release Raut on a general date and continue the investigation in the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

The Supreme Court's earlier order to carry out an investigation against the 17 people involved in the same case by keeping them out of jail has also been scrapped.

Later, the CIB filed a vacate application at the Supreme Court against them.

Now, they will also remain in jail until the case is over.

The initial hearing over the case was started on June 30.

One June 28, those who were arrested in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab case filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court arguing that they were nabbed without any reason.

In the same case, Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Kapali and Hupendra Mani KC were released later owing to the stay order.

The 17 people arrested in the same incident are being investigated for forging documents and organized crime.

The Supreme Court has issued an order to release Krishna Bahadur Raut, Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

A single bench of Justice Nahakul Subedi on Friday also barred Secretary Raut from going abroad without the court’s order.

The court also reminded the earlier decision of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority taken on February 5, 2020 to not initiate a corruption case against Raut.  

Raut was recently arrested on the charge of forging the government signature and documents in the course of registering the public land into the names of individuals.

Then, Raut filed a habeas corpus writ in the court.

A grant agreement of more than Rs 10.5 billion has been signed between Nepal and the European Union (EU) for two different programs.

At a program organized at the Finance Ministry, Singha Durbar, on Friday, two separate financing agreements - a grant agreement of 50 million pound sterling (equivalent to Rs. 7.38 billion) for 'Quality Education for All' to support the School Education Sector Plan - SESP, and a grant agreement of 22 million pound sterling (equivalent to Rs. 3.25 billion) for the 'Local Adaptation to Climate Change' initiative - were signed.

'Quality Education for All' will support the implementation of the government's School Education Sector Plan in a sector-wide approach (SWAp) supported by eight development partners, including the EU. The overall objective of this support is to contribute to a well-educated and skilled society in Nepal which is able to play an active role in the social and economic development of the country.

On the occasion, Finance Secretary Arjun Prasad Pokharel said, "l am hopeful that the support of SESP with the help in increasing equitable access and improving the quality of education, which are crucial for human capital development."

"Nepal is making sincere efforts to balance the development and climate action. I appreciate the support of the EU to plan and develop measures for Disaster Risk Reduction and to focus on increased human and financial capacities in order to enable the selected local levels and communities to manage their natural resources in regards to adaptation to climate change. I would like to thank the European Union for its continued support in the socio-economic development endeavors of Nepal", stated Pokharel.

Similarly, EU Commissioner for international Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen said, "The European Union is proud to continue our 20 year support to Nepal in education. Supporting quality education is one of our core commitments in our cooperation."

 "We are heartened by the government's commitment to support quality education and are happy to be a close partner", stated EU Ambassador to Nepal, Nona Deprez.

The European Union and Finland, as team Europe, will continue to work with local and provincial governments in Sudurpaschim and Karnali so they are empowered to make the most of their natural resources sustainable." said Nona Deprez, EU Ambassador to Nepal.

'Local Adaptation to Climate Change' is initiated with an overall objective to improve the sustainability and conservation of natural resources to notably increase their climate resilience in Sudurpaschim and Karnali provinces, reads a press release issued by the Finance Ministry.

A 76-year-old man died after being attacked by a rhino in eastern Chitwan on Thursday. 

The deceased has been identified as Nabraj Adhikari of Ratnanagar Municipality-6, Chitwan.

Information Officer at the Chitwan National Park Ganesh Prasad Tiwari said that Adhikari, who had gone to collect the fiddlehead fern (Niguro) in the nearby forest, was attacked by the rhino in Baghmara Buffer Zone Community Forest yesterday.

Adhikari's body was recovered this morning in a search carried out by the family members and relatives after Adhikari did not return home on Thursday evening, according to Information Officer Tiwari.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 800 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 112, 800 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 113, 600 per tola on Thursday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 112, 250 per tola. It was traded at Rs 113, 050.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,480 per tola today.

Five members of a family have fallen sick after consuming wild mushroom at Tadigaun in Sunarya Rural Municipality-3 of Baitadi.

Tek Raj Bhatta (35), Dhauli Bhatta (35), Bhuwan Bhatta (12), Shardha Bhatta (12) and eight-year-old Dablu Bhatta have taken ill, police said.

Inspector Kamal Prasad Chaudhary, Chief at the Area Police Office, Patan, all of them have been taken to the Dadeldhura Hospital for treatment.

The hospital administration said that all of them except Shardha are in unconscious condition.

Lumpy skin disease is taking a heavy toll on the cattle in the districts of Sudurpaschim Province. So far, almost 26,000 livestock died of the lumpy skin disease, the officials said. 

The disease has spread in all nine districts of the province, affecting around 634,800 animals.

Chief of Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Expert Centre, Kailali, Dr Hemraj Awasthi, said that the outbreak of the disease has panicked the local farmers with the largest number of livestock fatalities in Baitadi and largest number of infections in Kailali district. Dr Awasthi said that more than 11,000 animals died of this disease in Baitadi district.

Likewise, Kanchanpur district recorded the least number of fatalities among the nine districts in the province.

However, just 630 livestock received vaccines against this disease as per the information provided to the Department of Livestock Service from the Livestock Development Directorate.

"This year's infection in the hilly districts is deadlier," according to Dr Awasthi.

The livestock technicians have suggested the farmers keep the infected cattle isolated. It is said that the disease broke out due to the practice of keeping cattle free in open grazing land in highland areas.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka has said that Nepal and Republic of Korea should work to further deepen the bilateral relations and ensure cooperation.  

At a meeting with Ambassador of Republic of Korea Tae-Young Park on Thursday, the Deputy Prime Minister also expressed pleasure for organizing separate programs in Kathmandu and Seoul to further deepen the friendly ties between the two countries on the occasion of completion of 50 years of formal diplomatic ties. 

Likewise, the DPM recalled that South Korea has been Nepal's reliable development partner for a long and its support to Nepal's energy, health care, education, human resource and rural development sectors were crucial. 

On the occasion, Korean Ambassador Park said that Nepal was the first priority to migrant workers in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

The Ambassador said that as high as 10,000 Nepalis would be provided with the employment opportunity in the next year under the EPS model.