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Date expired medicines were found distributed to the patients in a free eye camp organized in Haldibari of Jhapa. After the incident came to light, the Haldibari Rural Municipality formed a three-member probe committee. A village executive meeting formed the three-member committee under the headship of Health Branch Head Pushkar Niraula. Administration Branch Chief Rajan Neupane and Accounts Head Deepak Bhattarai are the members of the committee. Health Branch Chief Nirula said that the committee will submit the probe report to the rural municipality within three days. A total of 501 people underwent eye tests in the camp. Among them, 378 persons were distributed glasses and 26 have been referred to the Mechi Netralaya for cataract surgery. The Sterile eye medicine distributed in the camp has expiry dates of April 2022 and November 2021 Haldibari-4 Ward Chairman Santa Kumar Thapa said that he has no knowledge about the incident. The expired medicines were found in 11 families of the same village, local Pankaj Sah said.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) has started the process to use the Devanagari script on the embossed number plates of vehicles. Currently, Latin script is used on embossed number plates. The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has installed embossed number plates on around 40,000 vehicles. DoTM is also facing criticism for costly fees for the installation of embossed number plates. Given the criticism and linguistic experts questioning the use of Latin script, the ministry has now said it would make the necessary policy decision to use the Devanagari script on the embossed plates. An embossed number plate is a camera-readable plate that contains a microchip connected to the vehicle’s GPS system. This makes it efficient in terms of maintaining digital records of the vehicles, collecting revenue on time, monitoring vehicles, and controlling vehicle thefts. MoPIT Spokesperson Bhimarjun Adhikari said that a process has been initiated to keep the name of the country and province in Devanagari script on the embossed plate. He further said that the cost of installing plates will also be reduced. "We are making a policy decision to keep the name of the country and province in Devanagari script," said Adhikari. "The ministry is also in discussion with the contractor which has been given the contract of installing embossed number plates." According to Adhikari, the ministry has advanced the discussion to reduce the fee for embossed number plates. Currently, the DoTM charges two-wheelers Rs 2,500; three-wheelers (tempos) Rs 2,900; light four-wheelers including cars, jeeps, vans, and tractors Rs 3,200; and heavy vehicles Rs 3,600 for installing embossed number plates. MoPIT is also preparing to issue the driver's license within three days of the trial. At present, there are almost 800,000 people waiting for their licenses. The ministry plans to issue them a license within eight months. After that, the ministry plans to give a smart license within three days of the trial. For that, it is said that smart card printing machines will be installed in the transport management offices of all provinces. Currently, there is a daily demand for 6,000 licenses across the country, but DoTM has been printing only 4,000 licenses on a daily basis.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 108, 200 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 108, 500 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 107, 700 per tola. It was traded at Rs 108, 000. The price of silver, however, increased by Rs 10 on Thursday. It is being traded at Rs 1, 375.

In yet another twist in the long-delayed development of the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project, the government has started discussions to allow the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to develop the multi-billion project. The government in the last fiscal year decided to build the reservoir project on its own and also established Budhi Gandaki Jalbidhyut Public Limited to develop the 12,00MW project. However, the company is yet to come into operation as the government has not provided the budget to get approval for commencement from the Office of the Company Registrar (OCR). The company was supposed to explore the resources after getting approval from OCR to carry on with its business. “Recently, there has been a discussion on developing the project under the leadership of NEA,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI). “NEA has the technical expertise on developing big projects. So, we have asked NEA to take the lead role to develop this project,” the official said, adding, "For this, NEA could have a majority stake in the newly established company." An NEA official also confirmed such discussion saying that the government has said that NEA could develop the project by having a majority stake in the company. As developing storage-type projects is quite expensive compared to the run of the river-type project, a viability gap funding could be required from the government to develop this project. Budhigandaki is a ready-to-go project as its detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared. Compensation distribution for the land acquisition and houses has also been in the final stage, according to MoEWRI officials. The project, which has been touted as important to ensuring Nepal's energy security as it is expected to help the country to be self-reliant even during the dry season, has been in limbo for a long due to uncertainty over the modality of its development. Nepal is currently importing electricity from India as domestic production has dropped sharply along with the reduction in water levels in the rivers where the hydropower projects are based. Even though the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project has been highly prioritized on paper, the company established to execute the project is yet to function seven months after its establishment. Earlier, Budhigandaki fell victim to policy inconsistency despite facing hardly any problem in land acquisition and completion of DPR. In 2017, the then government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal awarded a contract to build the project without competitive bidding to China Gezhouba Group Corporation under the engineering, procurement, construction, and financing (EPCF) modality. The Sher Bahadur Deuba-led administration in November 2017 overturned the earlier government’s decision. A high-level team led by Swarnim Wagle, former Vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission, was then established. The committee suggested that the project could also be developed using domestic resources. Again in September 2018, the government led by KP Sharma Oli decided in favor of the Chinese company, reversing the decision of the Deuba-led government. In April of last year, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government once more decided to terminate the license granted to the Chinese company since it was not making any progress on the project. Budhigandaki, which will be Nepal's largest reservoir-type project with an estimated cost of USD 2.6 billion, is situated at the boundary between the districts of Gorkha and Dhading. For the government, generating resources and closing the project's budget gap will be a difficult undertaking. The report prepared by the committee headed by Wagle in 2017 suggested that the government should develop the project on its own by providing viability gap funding, covering around one-third of the project development cost. As per its report, the government could cover the cost of land acquisition and resettlement of displaced families which could total as high as Rs 94 billion. A significant chunk of resources can be generated from government institutions. An infrastructure tax being imposed on imported fuel could be an important source of revenue that can be used to develop the project. “Based on an average increase in petroleum consumption by 10 percent a year, as much as Rs 164 billion can be collected from taxes imposed on fuel alone by the fiscal year 2026/27” reads the report submitted by the committee led by Wagle. The NEA official said that discussions are underway on how to generate resources for the project. “One option could be issuing an initial public offering for the development of the project,” said the official. According to the report, Nepal Electricity Authority, Employees Provident Fund, Nepal Telecom, Rastriya Beema Sansthan, Hydroelectric Investment and Development Company, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Company, Chilime Hydropower Company, Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and the General Public could be tapped for the project. The Wagle report also stated the resources could also be generated from international donor agencies or by the issuance of project-specific bonds and credits from the project’s suppliers.

Police have arrested an Indian national with 3 kg cocaine from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). A team of Narcotics Bureau apprehended the Indian national while he was leaving for New Delhi on an Indigo Air flight on Tuesday. A police source said that the Indian national was detained after the x-ray machine of the departure room detected the cocaine. The Indian national has been identified as Bhanlalmi. The Narcotics Control Bureau is organizing a press conference at 2 pm today to inform about the incident.

The government has decided to resolve border issues with India and China through diplomatic efforts. In the Common Minimum Program, the 10-party alliance led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that it would resolve the border issues with the neighboring countries in Limpiyadhura, Lipulek, Kalapani and other areas through diplomatic means. The government has decided to increase the border security post for the effective management and regulation of the border.  

The 10-party alliance led by Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal gave a final shape to the draft of the Common Minimum Program (CMP) of the government. Prime Minister Dahal has included the issue related to transitional justice in the program with a priority. The alliance has committed to conclude the remaining works of the peace process and transitional justice within two years. The government has a policy to manage compensation and rehabilitation for the conflict victims for the same. The government has also included a policy in the Common Minimum Program to implement the agreement made with various concerned authorities to give a final shape to the peace process. It has been mentioned in the Common Minimum Program that a commission would be formed by endorsing the bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act and to provide necessary source and manpower.  

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 1.02 points to close at 1,919.42 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0.62 points to close at 361. 14 points. A total of 2,539,048-unit shares of 258 companies were traded for Rs 816 billion. Meanwhile, Super Mai Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Khaptad Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 4.41 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 78 trillion.